The social cognition of violent offenders

Abstract

Purpose – Social cognition is a prominent feature of explanations of crime, particularly violent crime. This paper aims to report a study that compared several aspects of the social cognition of convicted violent and non‐violent offenders.Design/methodology/approach – Measures of social cognition were administered to 156 offenders, classified as violent and non‐violent according to index offence.Findings – Analysis showed few significant differences between the violent and non‐violent offenders, although differences in thinking styles and social problem solving strategies were evident between high‐risk and low‐risk violent offenders.Originality/value – The differences between high‐risk and lower risk violent offenders suggests that not all violent offenders function at the same level and so more precision is required in classifying offenders.