Empathy and antisocial behaviour

Empathy has been linked to prosocial behaviour and a lack of empathy to a tendency to be aggressive, making research and theory on empathy in offenders a high priority. In this article, we briefly review the empathy concept and present the evolution of our view of empathy from a stage model to newer models examining issues related to breakdown of the empathy process. Empathy is presented as progressing through four stages: emotion recognition, perspective taking, emotional response, and reparative action. Research showing some support for this model of empathy and critiques are presented suggesting a need for a revised model which is then presented and discussed. Finally, a new model of a breakdown of the empathic process based on the early childhood experiences is presented and its implications for treatment are discussed.