Criminal Thinking Research Articles

Exploring the relationship between criminal narrative experience (CNE) and criminal thinking, among sexual offenders

Purpose The criminal narrative experience (CNE) framework posits that criminals’ personal experiences of offending can be differentiated into distinct narrative themes. This study aims to examine whether CNE themes of sexual offenders (SO) was related to particular cognitive distortions (criminal thinking). Additionally, given previously identified psychological differences between child SO and SO that target adults, the study also compared CNE and criminal thinking styles between these SO groups. Design/methodology/approach Twenty-six adult male offenders convicted for sexual crimes completed a survey composed of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (Version 4) and a Criminal Narrative Experience Questionnaire which identified two narrative themes of sexual offending (The Intrepid Professional-Adventurer, IPA; and The Dejected Revenger Victim, DRV). Findings Analyses failed to identify significant relationships between CNE themes and most of the criminal thinking styles. However, offenders reporting the DRV narrative displayed greater fears about the prospect of changing. Additionally, child SO displayed the IPA narrative more than SO that targeted adults. Practical implications The CNE framework can assist practitioners who are working towards a goal of desistance, as the experience of crime from the perspective of the offender is understood through their narrative roles and emotional experience. Identifying an individual’s strongest CNE theme could aid practitioners in identifying and planning interventions which challenge the distorted thinking. Originality/value This study is the first to examine the relationship between CNE and cognitive distortions that enable (re)offending.

The relationship between four indicators of future time orientation, criminal thinking style, and illegal behaviors.

Individuals who commit criminal behaviors are often thought to prioritize short-term goals rather than long-term goals (i.e., a present vs. a future time orientation). Though previous theories of crime and empirical research support a relationship among future time orientation, criminal thinking, and illegal behaviors, there is disagreement in the literature about how to operationalize the multidimensional construct of future time orientation. The primary aim of this pre-registered survey study was to measure multiple components of future time orientation to better understand the relationship with criminality-related outcomes. Participants were 248 undergraduate college students. Survey materials included a measure of impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11), self-control (Brief Self-Control Scale), delay discounting (Monetary Choice Questionnaire), and Carstensen's Future Time Perspective Scale. Participants also completed two measures of criminal thinking style (the Texas Christian University Criminal Thinking Scale, the Criminogenic Cognitions Scale) and an illegal behaviors checklist. Bivariate results demonstrated a negative relationship between future time orientation (i.e., low impulsivity, high self-control, high future time perspective) and criminal thinking style. The relationship between delay discounting and criminal thinking was in the hypothesized direction but failed to reach statistical significance. Multiple regression analyses indicated that the measure of self-control had the most consistent and incrementally significant relationship with both criminal thinking style and illegal behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed along with study limitations and future directions.

Effectiveness of Ellis's Rational-Emotional Approach on Criminal Thinking and Law-Evasion in Male Prisoners.

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Ellis's rational-emotional approach on criminal thinking and law-evasion in male prisoners. A quasi-experimental design utilizing pretest, post-test, and follow-up test and waiting-list control groups was conducted. Thirty male prisoners were selected by purposeful sampling and randomized into experimental and waiting list control groups. Participants of experimental group received 12 sessions of Ellis's rational-emotional approach intervention; and all participants answered to PICTS-L-SF and ABAWS as dependent variables at 3 time points (pretest, post-test, and 1 month follow-up). A repeated measures analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. Results showed criminal thinking and law-evasion in experimental group, as compared to control, at post-test phase was significantly decreased (p < .05); and improvement of dependent variables in the follow-up phase has also been continued (p < .05). Therefore, REBT can be beneficial for reducing criminal and illegal thoughts and behaviors among prisoners.

Proactive Criminal Thinking and Criminal Identity in Adult Probationers Progressing Through a Day Reporting Program: What This Tells Us About Moral Identity

ABSTRACT This study sought answers to two questions: first, whether or not proactive criminal thinking and criminal identity decrease in justice-involved clients enrolled in a day reporting program (DRP) and second, whether these variables are reciprocally related. A group of 86 adult probationers (54 males, 32 females) completed proactive criminal thinking and criminal identity measures at the beginning of a DRP and again six months later. Results revealed a significant drop in proactive criminal thinking from Time 1 to Time 2, although criminal identity did not change. Also, while proactive criminal thinking predicted criminal identity and a change in criminal identity, criminal identity failed to predict proactive criminal thinking or a change in proactive criminal thinking. Based on these results, it is speculated that proactive criminal thinking is responsive to the types of interventions found in this particular DRP and may have the power to alter criminal identity.

Does Criminal Versatility Predict Recidivism? Results from Cox Proportional-Hazards and Binomial Logistic Regression Analyses

The purpose of this study was to determine whether criminal versatility predicts future recidivism. A Cox proportional-hazards survival analysis of 1,101 male inmates showed that criminal versatility predicted recidivism after controlling for age, race, education, violent instant offense, sentence length, prior substance abuse, general criminal thinking, age at first conviction, and number of prior convictions. A hazard ratio of 1.09 revealed that a one-point increase on an 11-point criminal versatility scale predicted a 9% increase in the probability of future recidivism. These results were confirmed in a binomial logistic regression controlling for time at risk in the community. This is one of the first studies to highlight the clinical significance of criminal versatility in establishing risk for future offending.

A Systems-Based Approach to Criminal Thinking and Behavior.

Nearly all theoretical approaches and therapies to criminal thinking and behavior have been reductionist, meaning that they focus on a part or a subsystem of a system or a supra-system. While these reductionist theories and therapies have provided, and continue to provide, valuable information and rehabilitation, they offer a limited view of criminality and rehabilitation as a consequence of reductionism. Using general systems theory (GST), this article presents an integrated and interdisciplinary theoretical approach to criminal thinking and behavior. This article posits that criminality can be better understood, prevented, and treated using GST.

Criminal Thinking Patterns of Inmates in Light of Some Personal Variables: A Field Study on a Sample of Inmates of the Swaqa Correctional and Rehabilitation Center

The study aims to identify the nature of criminal thinking patterns among inmates in light of certain personal variables by conducting a field study on a sample of inmates at the Swaqa Rehabilitation and Correctional Center. To achieve the study's objectives, the descriptive-analytical method was used, employing a questionnaire as the study tool. The study sample consisted of 223 inmates selected through a non-probability convenience sampling method. The results showed that the criminal thinking pattern of "blaming others" had a high degree, with a mean score of 3.69. In contrast, the criminal thinking patterns of "non-interaction with others" (antisocial) and "closed mindedness" (rigidity in opinion) were moderate, with mean scores of 3.08 and 3.29, respectively. The results also revealed statistically significant differences in criminal thinking patterns based on variables such as age, family monthly income, life satisfaction, and the number of crimes committed. Based on these findings, the study recommended reconsidering and developing rehabilitation programs to help modify criminal thinking patterns among inmates.

The reciprocal relationships between moral disengagement and antisocial behavior from ages 16 to 23.

Moral disengagement (MD) has been consistently associated with antisocial behavior (ASB) in prior research. Limited research tested the directionality of the bivariate relationship, and most studies focused only on the direction of MD predicting ASB, even though ASB could also influence MD based on the literature on attribution and behavioral influence on attitude. Moreover, the few studies testing reciprocal associations rarely controlled for stable individual differences and did not explicitly examine the age effect to allow for a clear developmental inference. We analyzed age-based self-report antisocial behavior and moral disengagement data across ages 16-23 from 1,349 juvenile offenders (86.43% male; 20.31% White, 41.29% Black, 33.65% Hispanic) in the Pathways to Desistance Project using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model. Controlling for stable individual differences in MD and ASB and their associations along with the autoregressive effects, there was a reciprocal relationship between MD and ASB from ages 16 to 18. However, from ages 19 to 21, only ASB significantly predicted MD in the following year. There was no significant cross-lagged effect from ages 21 to 23. Our findings highlight the dynamic relationship between MD and ASB from ages 16 to 23. Youth between 16 and 18 years old may be more pliable to change with treatment/intervention due to the two-way traffic of cognition and behavior, but we also caution against treatment efforts with a heavy focus on proactive criminal thinking involving moral disengagement to reduce offending behavior beyond age 18. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The relationship among family environment, criminal thinking, and attitudes toward substance use in delinquent adolescents

ABSTRACT Objective This study aimed to investigate the relationship among family environment, criminal thinking, and attitudes toward substance use in delinquent adolescents. Methods A descriptive correlational study was conducted. A total of 132 adolescents who arrested for narcotic-related crimes and referred to the Delinquency Rehabilitation Center of Yazd City, Iran, were selected. The data were gathered using the Attitude toward Narcotic Substances questionnaire, the Family Environment Scale, and the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles and were analyzed via the Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis. Results The findings showed that among the dimensions of family conflict, cohesion, and expressiveness in the family environment, only the family conflict dimension had a significant positive correlation with criminal thinking and positive attitudes toward substance use. There was also a meaningful positive relationship between criminal thinking and positive attitudes toward substance use (p < .01). The results of the regression analysis indicated that only criminal thinking was able to predict the adolescents’ positive attitudes toward substance use, while the family environment did not play any significant predictive role (p > .05). Conclusion In sum, it was concluded that the crimial thinking patterns in adolescents created in interaction with the peer groups were mainly related to positive attitudes toward substance use rather than the family environment.

Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Crime Orientation among Young Adults: Mediating Role of Criminal Thinking Styles

Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Crime Orientation among Young Adults: Mediating Role of Criminal Thinking Styles

Çocukluk Çağı Travmaları Ve Ebeveyn Tutumlarının Yetişkin Bireylerdeki Kriminal Düşünceler İle İlişkisinin İncelenmesi

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the relationship of childhood traumas and parental attitudes with criminal thinking in adult individuals. The study group of the research consists of a total of 386 participants, 196 women and 190 men, who reside within the borders of TRNC and the Republic of Türkiye, are 18 years of age and over, and whose parents were alive until adulthood. In the study, the correlation method was used to examine the relationship between variables. In the research, a sample was selected from the population using the convenience sampling method. Sociodemographic Information Form, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), s-EMBU-C and Criminal Thinking Scales (CTS) were used as data collection tools in the study. Data was collected online via Google Forms. In this study, where the relationship between childhood traumas, parental attitudes, sociodemographic characteristics and criminal thinking was evaluated, significant relationships were found between childhood traumas and criminal thinking scales, and between perceived parental attitudes and criminal thinking scales. Additionally, in the analysis comparing the three scales, it was seen that parental attitudes did not predict criminal thinking, while childhood traumas predicted criminal thinking and engaged a full mediator role in the relationship between perceived parental attitudes and criminal thinking. In line with these results, it would be beneficial for public health to conduct studies on children exposed to trauma and/or growing up with negative parental attitudes. Keywords: childhood traumas, parental attitudes, criminal thinking

The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles: A Scoping Review of its Reliability, Factor Structure, Concurrent Correlates, Predictive Correlates, Change Scores, and Cross-National Comparability in Non-U.S. Samples

The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles: A Scoping Review of its Reliability, Factor Structure, Concurrent Correlates, Predictive Correlates, Change Scores, and Cross-National Comparability in Non-U.S. Samples

Investigating the psychometric properties of the persian version of the psychological inventory of criminal thinking styles

Introduction: The psychological inventory of criminal thinking styles (PICTS) plays a significant role in the diagnosis and evaluation of criminal thinking styles. It emphasizes the importance of cognition, particularly in the commission and perpetuation of crimes in the field of psychology. Aim: The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the persian version of the PICTS in prisoners. Method: The current research was a descriptive-applied study of the psychometric type. The statistical population consisted of prisoners in Shiraz city in 2022. The statistical sample included 519 prisoners from Adel Abad prison in Shiraz who were selected through purposive sampling. They completed the PICTS. Data analysis was conducted using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and confirmatory factor analysis in SPSS and AMOS version 22 software. Results: The results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported the eight criminal thinking styles model and the criminal thinking hierarchy model of the PICTS, and the fit indices were favorable. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for overall criminal thinking was 0.91, and for proactive and reactive thinking styles, it was 0.89 and 0.79, respectively. Additionally, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the eight criminal thinking styles ranged between 0.61 and 0.81, and the test-retest correlation coefficient was between 0.63 and 0.86. Conclusion: The reliability and validity of the persian version of the PICTS has been confirmed. It is recommended that social workers and professionals in the field of criminal psychology use this questionnaire to predict the commission and perpetuation of crimes.

Salutogenesis as a Mediator in Decreased Criminal Thinking: An Evaluation of Cognitive Programs for Juvenile and Adult Offenders

ABSTRACT This study is based on two previous studies that showed a post-treatment decrease in total criminal thinking (PICTS) and an increase in total sense of coherence (SOC) among youths and adults. The current study investigated whether these interventions changed the sub-scales of PICTS and SOC, and whether an increase in SOC would mediate a decrease in PICTS. Among both groups, the mean value of the sub-factors of PICTS decreased by the interventions, and increased for SOC sub-factors meaningfulness and manageability. Only among the adults, the increase in total sense of coherence and the sub-factor of manageability mediated the decrease of criminal thinking.

Willingness to work among males on parole: A quantitative and qualitative analysis.

This study investigated employment attitudes of adult males who were recently released from prison and onto parole. The study investigated the role of willingness to work entry-level jobs, an understudied variable in career development of justice-involved persons. We hypothesized that criminal thinking and perception of barriers would each have a direct effect on job search self-efficacy and a direct and indirect effect on willingness to work entry-level jobs, through job search self-efficacy. We also predicted that criminal thinking and perception of barriers would each have an indirect effect on career aspirations within a job, through job search self-efficacy and willingness to work entry-level jobs. Results confirmed these hypotheses. Results of two serial mediation analyses indicated that perceiving more barriers to work predicted less job search self-efficacy, less job search self-efficacy predicted less willingness to work entry-level jobs, and less willingness to work entry-level jobs predicted lower career aspirations. Similarly, higher reactive criminal thinking predicted less job search self-efficacy, less job search self-efficacy predicted less willingness to work entry-level jobs, and less willingness to work entry-level jobs predicted lower career aspirations. Results of qualitative analysis indicated that the vast majority of parolees planned to work in entry-level jobs within the first few months of release from prison. The study sheds light on the work attitudes of males who leave prison and what factors may influence their willingness to work entry-level jobs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Measuring criminal thinking among convicts imprisoned in Punjab prisons of Pakistan

PurposeThis study aims to differentiate crime-related characteristics (such as the number of cases filed against current convictions and criminal history) based on the criminal thinking prevailing among convicts. However, because of the low reliability of subscales and poor structural validity of indigenous and translated versions of international instruments, a new instrument criminal attitude measure (CAM) was extracted to measure criminal thinking patterns among convicts incarcerated in central prisons of Punjab.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional research design was used. Data was collected from 1,949 male convicts (extracting mutually exclusive data from 649 respondents for EFA and 1,300 respondents for confirmatory factor analysis [CFA]). Both data samples were collected from convicts incarcerated in the nine (all) central jails of Punjab, Pakistan.FindingsThe results of this study showed poor model fit for both the indigenous criminal thinking scale and the translated version of criminogenic cognition scale. CAM was extracted through principal component analysis and proposed as a 15-item questionnaire with five factors extracted through varimax rotation. Those five factors are power orientation, mollification, entitlement, mistrust toward authorities and short-term orientation. The results of CFA for CAM confirmed the proposed five-factor structure for the construct. Findings based on MANOVA further found that CAM differentiates between the thinking patterns of recidivists, convicts with multiple charges filed against them in current convictions and convicts with a familial criminal record. The findings of this study showed that CAM is a practical, valid and reliable instrument for measuring criminal thinking among convicts.Research limitations/implicationsIn this study, using the survey method was inevitable because of the restrictions imposed by the granted permission. However, this time duration was extended because of the courtesy of the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of each jail. This study is focused on a male sample only, and the findings cannot be generalized to females. The phenomena proposed (based on large data sets) in this study can further be elaborated using qualitative research designs and methods (using a small sample with an in-depth study). So, it is also suggested to test this new instrument on a comparative study between prisoners and non-prisoners to explore whether scale can differentiate between these two groups.Practical implicationsA short-scale and easy-to-administer instrument was developed for assessing major criminogenic needs among convicts for prison management, i.e. assigning barracks, allocating treatment and also detecting changes in attitude after imprisonment.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first study to explore and validate the construct of criminal attitudes among convicts using both the EFA and CFA. A small and valid instrument facilitates the measurement of criminogenic needs among prisoners. Data was collected from all central jails in Punjab. This study explored comparatively less researched crime characteristics in a relatively large sample.

Entrepreneurship and Criminal Justice Populations: A Social Cognitive Perspective.

A criminal record limits employment opportunities of those released from prison. Entrepreneurship, or starting one's own business venture, has been suggested as a way to overcome the employment barriers of a criminal record, given that many justice-involved persons have entrepreneurship experiences, often through illegal ventures. Sparse research has investigated how legal or illegal business experience translates to legal entrepreneurship attitudes. Using social cognitive career theory-career theory (SCCT), and concepts from the Risk Need Responsivity (RNR) model, the role of illegal and legal business exposure were investigated. Findings indicated that both legal and illegal business exposure had a positive influence on entrepreneurship goals through entrepreneurship self-efficacy and entrepreneurship outcome expectations. Legal experiences had a stronger influence. Criminal thinking, a significant risk factor for return to criminal behavior, was investigated in its role in entrepreneurship attitudes. Findings indicated that criminal thinking had an indirect effect on entrepreneurship goals through entrepreneurship self-efficacy.

Criminal thinking as a bipolar dimensional construct: Testing the risk-promotive status of the PICTS proactive and reactive criminal thinking scales.

This study sought to assess whether two scales from a criminal thinking inventory displayed bipolar properties such that high scores on these scales reflect a risk effect and low scores a promotive effect. To test this hypothesis, the proactive criminal thinking (PCT) and reactive criminal thinking (RCT) scales from the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) were organized into three categories-top 25% of scores (high group), the middle 50% of scores (intermediate group), and bottom 25% of scores (low group)-and crossed with preincarceration (prior convictions and age at first conviction), peri-incarceration (total and aggressive institutional infractions), and postincarceration (revocation and rearrest) outcome indicators. Participants for this study were 3,039 male inmates who completed the PICTS while confined in a medium-security federal prison. Results showed that the PCT and RCT each achieved a mixed (risk and promotive) effect for four out of six outcomes. Of the four unipolar effects, PCT achieved a promotive effect but not a risk effect for the two preincarceration outcomes, whereas RCT produced a risk but not promotive effect for the two postincarceration outcomes. These results provide support for the notion that PCT and RCT are primarily bipolar dimensional constructs in which high scores are associated with negative criminal justice outcomes and low scores with positive criminal justice outcomes, although there may be unipolar aspects to each scale as well. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Unravelling the mind of young adult offenders: mediating role of impulsivity in relationship between psychopathy and criminal thinking

ABSTRACT The increased crime rate in Pakistan can largely be attributed to criminal thinking, which encompasses the thought content and processes of offenders. Psychopathy, a disposition characterized by lack of empathy, emotional awareness, and impulsivity, is a vital risk factor for deviance and violent offending among young offenders. The present study aims to investigate mediating role of impulsivity between the relationship of Psychopathy and Criminal Thinking in Young Adult Offenders. The sample comprised 126 male offenders who were convicted and imprisoned for a criminal case, with the age range of 19–30 years (M = 25.74, SD = 3.15) were taken from Prisons in Pakistan. Findings revealed that there were positive associations between psychopathy, impulsivity, and various criminal thinking styles. Results indicated that impulsivity mediated the relationship between psychopathy and power orientation, criminal rationalization, entitlement, and cold-heartedness criminal thinking styles. It was concluded that psychopathic tendencies and impulsivity of offenders determined major cognitive processes in trying to control the environment, developing justifications to masquerade real motive behind a crime, feeling above the law, and an absence or concern of others. This mediation model highlights an explanatory mechanism for assessment of dispositional as well as cognitive processes to aid in the prevention of crime in future. The findings of this study have important implications for the development of interventions that include psychopathy and impulsivity as mechanisms for reducing violent behaviour in this population.

Over-Reporting Detection on the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) Confusion (Cf-r) Scale in Justice-Involved Individuals

Over-Reporting Detection on the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) Confusion (Cf-r) Scale in Justice-Involved Individuals