Blame Attribution Inventory Research Articles

Cognitive distortions and blame attribution among paedophiles

Abstract The Gudjonsson Blame Attribution Inventory and the Abel & Becker Cognitive Distortion Scale were administered to 5 men convicted of paedophile offences against a family member or relative. Cognitive distortions were found to be highly significantly correlated with external attribution of blame concerning the crime committed. The implications of the findings are discussed.

The revised Gudjonsson blame attribution inventory

The Gudjonsson Blame Attribution Inventory (Gudjonsson, Person. individ. Diff. 5, 53–58, 1984) was revised in order to make it more applicable to a specific criminal act. Factor analysis of the revised inventory revealed three independent factors similar to those found for the original inventory. External attribution of blame was found to be positively correlated with psychoticism, hostility, and external locus of control. Guilt feeling attribution correlated with neuroticism and introversion, but negatively with psychoticism.

Attribution of blame for criminal acts and its relationship with type of offence.

ABSTRACT: This paper examines the relationship between type of offence and attribution of blame by offenders for their criminal activity. The Gudjonsson Blame Attribution Inventory (GBAI) was administered to 139 prisoners at Grendon Psychiatric Prison, and 37 psychiatric patients with a forensic history. As predicted, a significant relationship with type of offence was found. Subjects who had committed sexual offences reported the strongest remorse for their offence, and those who had committed violent offences (e.g. homicide, grevious bodily harm) were more likely to attribute their offence to mental factors (e.g. loss of self-control, depression).

Attribution of blame for criminal acts and its relationship with personality

This paper examines the relationship between some personality variables and attribution of blame by offenders for their criminal activity. A specially-designed ‘Blame Attribution Inventory’ was constructed and administered to 224 Ss who had committed ‘serious’ criminal acts. Factor analysis of the items revealed 3 independent factors: (1) ‘External’ Attribution (i.e. blaming the crime on social circumstances, victims, society); (2) ‘Mental-Element’ Attribution (i.e. blaming responsibility for the crime on mental illness, poor self-control, distorted perception); (3) ‘Guilt-Feeling’ Attribution (i.e. feelings of remorse, regrets, need for punishment). The inventory was administered to 40 offender patients who had completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), the Gough Socialization Scale (GSS) and the Beck Depression Inventory. External Attribution had significant correlation with the EPQ P scale, Mental-Element Attribution correlated significantly with the EPQ L scale and the GSS. Guilt-Feeling Attribution was associated with depression and neuroticism.