Allow me to introduce the “Babe” who could be Drew Peterson’s next wife. She is Kumari Fulbright, a young lady who participated in the Miss Arizona pageant as Miss Pima County in 2005, and Miss Desert Sun in 2006, who also reportedly serves as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Raner Collins. Here, she is pictured as Miss May in a calendar for Subguns.com (www.title2media.com, photo used with permission). See ABC News for the complete story.
But Drew Peterson and the rest of you guys had better watch out because sweet little Kumari “is accused, along with three men, of tying up her 24-year-old ex-boyfriend with plastic cable and duct tape, and holding him captive for hours in two different Tucson homes.” The authorities allege that while she held her ex-boyfriend captive, she “bit him several times while he was bound, stuck a butcher knife in his ear … said she was going to kill him, [and] pointed a pistol at him.” We all wish the victim here a speedy recovery.
Just by coincidence, I received an article yesterday from Dr. Tess Crawley from the University of Tasmania, Australia. The title of the article, published in Psychiary, Psychology and Law (2006) is “Impulsive-Aggression, Antisocial Behaviour and Subclinical Psychopathy: Preliminary Findings From an Undergraduate Female Sample.” The message of the article is two-fold, 1) society has seen increase in aggressiveness in women 2) A woman need not meet full criteria for psychopathy/sociopathy in order to be dangerous.
Dr. Crawley identified University women who had a history of aggressive and impulsive behavior. She found that these women engaged in fighting and had more sex partners than “control” women who were neither impulsive nor aggressive. She measured psychopathic traits in the women and found that the impulsive-aggressive women also scored significantly higher in psychopathic traits.
This article supports to two points I repeatedly make on this blog. The first point is that our readers should not worry about whether or not a lover “is a psychopath.” Hypothetically now, if I told you that Kumari’s psychopathy score was 24 rather than the 25 cut-off needed for the “diagnosis of psychopathy,” would you say, “Okay then, I’ll ask her out!”
Psychopathic traits are much more important than a diagnosis of psychopathy. The data show that only 20 percent of even violent inmates meet the cut-off for psychopathy. In my opinion, studies do not indicate there is a clear cut difference between a sore of 22 and a score of 25-30, especially since the diagnostic instrument (PCL-R) only has an 80% test-retest reliability. This reliability means that if a person scores 27 one day and is retested a month later his/her score will likely be between 21.6 and 32.4.
All this science psychobabble is good news for you. It means that if you understand what sociopathy/psychopathy is, and you determine that someone has the traits that are associated with these conditions, you don’t have to wait for a consultation from a forensic specialist before deciding to be on your guard. New studies like this one of psychopathic traits in non-criminals show significant pathology in people who have much lower psychopathy scores than those seen in criminals.
The second point is that impulsivity and aggression are both serious symptoms associated with sociopathy, psychopathy and borderline personality. Dr. Crawley told me in a note that she believes the impulsive-aggressive symptoms were associated with borderline personality features as much as with psychopathy/sociopathy. Many women with borderline personality are also diagnosed with sociopathy.
So guys, stick to women who are loving and level headed. Don’t be fooled by a pretty face and a sexy body. The same woman that looks HOT one moment can look down right awful the next. To see Kumari’s mug shot, click here.
Ox Drover
Dr. Leedom, thank you for this post, and for your comments about “Psychopathic traits are much more important than a diagnosis of psychopathy”—I have known so many “professionals” (with all the academic credentials to go with it) that do not seem to GET THAT very basic concept.
The old “if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck” etc it is most likely a DUCK! concept of COMMON SENSE “diagnosis” makes so much more sense in “real life” than the psychobabble. Though I realize that for studies, statistics etc. it is necessary to have a set of criteria to get valid results, in “life” I don’t need PROOF, just a preponderance of evidence to convince me.
andy_w
She isn’t even sexy. She looks like UK comedian Chris Morris!