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Paul Moran, Tamsin Ford, Georgia Butler, and Robert Goodman
Callous and unemotional traits in children and adolescents living in Great Britain
The British Journal of Psychiatry 2008; 192: 65-66 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]
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[Read eLetter] Pioneering, but open to prejudice
Woody Caan   (30 January 2008)

Pioneering, but open to prejudice 30 January 2008
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Woody Caan,
Professor of Public Health
Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge CB1 1PT

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Re: Pioneering, but open to prejudice

a.w.caan{at}anglia.ac.uk Woody Caan

The Institute of Psychiatry team deserves praise for their large scale study of schoolchildren, that combines parental assessments of psychopathology with teacher assessments of emotional traits. [1] Opportunities for (unspecified) early intervention to prevent antisocial behaviour seem a worthy focus for community research, although I am not sure how many schoolchildren would welcome their label "fledgling psychopaths".

One aspect of their pioneering report did raise alarm, at the population health level. The new questionnaire showed greater "callous and unemotional" ratings for subgroups with "Black and minority ethnicity". [1] All seven items scored could have very different Norms within different cultural or religious traditions, for example my formative years were in India and when I read the item "shallow or fast-changing emotions" I prejudicially translated that as 'British'. The research findings may be especially open to unconscious prejudice where the teacher and the child grew up in different ethno-cultural groups. There is not room here to discuss US transcultural debates, such as whether the term 'rascal' is specifically overapplied by White adults to African American children, but consider the questionnaire item "too full of his/her own abilities". My personal view from work with Youth Offending Teams [2] and Looked After Children [3] is that the difficulties (adult) professionals have in comprehending the needs of young people are greatly amplified if a cultural misunderstanding is also present.

The four authors recognise that they need to know more about the properties of their "callous and unemotional trait scale", and since the Royal College of Psychiatrists has a valuable special interest group in Transcultural Psychiatry it could be timely to seek their expert advice before targeting too many young, "fledgling psychopaths".

1 Moran P, Ford T, Butler G, Goodman R. Callous and unemotional traits in children and adolescents living in Britain. British Journal of Psychiatry 2008; 192: 65-66.

2 McKay I, Caan W. Free expression: tailoring health services to young offenders in Barking & Dagenham and Havering. Pp. 91-100 in Listen to Me: Consulting young people on health and health issues. Ilford: Barnardo’s, 2002.

3 Caan W. Not overlooked any more. Foreword in (K.Dunnett ed.) Health of Looked After Children and Young People. Lyme Regis: Russell House, 2006.

Declaration of interest: honorary consultant in Public Health to the Essex Children's Trust.