An exploration of criminal thinking styles among civil psychiatric patients

Criminal thinking and psychosocial characteristics among young adults entering residential substance use treatment

Background and aim: Young adults with substance use (SU) problems face a high risk of co-occurring problems, including criminality. The aim of the present study was to assess the psychosocial characteristics, SU problems, and criminal thinking young adults entering SU treatment have, and whether the SU characteristics, sex and age are associated with criminal thinking scores. Methods: The sample was 407 young adults aged 16-29 years who underwent an entry assessment between January 2011 and December 2016 at a residential SU treatment institution in Norway. All study data were extracted from electronic health records, including survey information from the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment and the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles. Results: In the present sample, severe SU, high rates of psychosocial problems, and criminal thinking were reported. Almost three-quarters (72.67%) of young adults reported high levels of criminal thinking (≥60). However, male participants were more likely to report high levels of criminal thinking compared to female participants (p=0.031). In bivariate regression models, only sex and having stimulants/opioids as primary drug were associated with mean levels of criminal thinking. The same was true in the multiple regression model. Conclusion: Young adults in residential SU treatment are a multi-problem high-risk/high-need group of people. Due to the elevated levels of criminal thinking, we recommend that young adults in SU treatment should be screened for criminogenic treatment needs, such as criminal thinking, regardless of justice involvement.

Development of Attribution-Based Scales Associated With Proactive, Reactive, and Acquisitive Offending

This study outlines the development of attribution scales to assess the antecedent processes of proactive, reactive, and acquisitive offending. Empirical keying, internal consistency, and item performance were the three test development strategies. Six samples (total N = 1,527) from parole, university, probation, and prison were used. The Proactive scale (10 items) reflected coldness and distance between offender and victims, the Reactive scale (10 items) reflected recklessness and excuses for violent behavior, and the Acquisitive scale (15 items) reflected less negative views of crime and choices. Convergent and discriminant validities were demonstrated by the Proactive scale stronger correlations with planning items, the Reactive scale stronger correlations with affective and person-based items, and the Acquisitive scale stronger correlations with other-based motives. Linking Proactive, Reactive, and Acquisitive scales to an offense provides psychological meaning that can benefit assessment and interventions.

Actor perspective and moral reasoning: Do levels of criminal thinking moderate this relationship among non-criminals?

A large body of literature has explored moral decision-making; however, fewer have examined the explicit role of criminal thinking (CT). This study sought to determine whether moral judgment is influenced by CT in the general population and if this relationship further depends on the type of scenario (i.e., immoral vs. illegal) and/or the actor orientation (i.e., self vs. other). Using a sample of 239 U.S. adults and hypothetical case vignettes, results showed that those who endorsed higher levels of CT rated socially deviant behaviors, regardless of the type of scenario, as significantly more morally acceptable than participants who endorsed lower levels of CT. However, this difference was more pronounced for the immoral dilemma compared to the illegal dilemma. Specifically, proactive CT processes led to higher justification for the immoral dilemma. Neither general nor reactive CT were significantly associated with moral reasoning for the illegal dilemma. Among a mostly non-offending sample, this finding makes sense as it appears participants' levels of criminal thinking may have been high enough to rationalize an immoral dilemma but not so high as to allow for rationalization of an illegal dilemma. No significant differences were found concerning actor orientation. This research not only has important implications for better understanding traits associated with moral decision-making in everyday choices, but it may also have practical application in legal contexts. However, further research is needed in these contexts. Findings were also limited by a lack of racial diversity among participants.

Critique of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles

The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) is a self-report measure which is given to individuals who have been involved in criminal activity or are known to the Criminal Justice System. Although the PICTS is extensively used and its psychometric properties supported within the research, no critique has yet specifically assessed its utility with forensic populations. Therefore, the aim of the critique was to analyse the scientific and psychometric properties of the PICTS. Adaptions have been made to the PICTS from the first to the fourth revision due to issues with the reliability and validity of the measure. Although the PICTS does have satisfactory internal and retest reliability, the reliability of the validity scales within the measure has continued to be poor. Furthermore, no independent research on the measure has been undertaken. As such, gaps in research and issues that need to be addressed have been highlighted. Practical implications, limitations, and future research are also discussed.

The Role of Stressful Life Events and Cultural Factors on Criminal Thinking among African American Women Involved in the Criminal Justice System

African American women are positioned at the intersection of multiple disadvantaged statuses and disproportionately impacted by criminal justice policies, as evinced by their increased likelihood of incarceration. Yet, they continue to be overlooked in mainstream criminological research. Using data from 418 African American women in the B-WISE (Black Women in a Study of Epidemics) project, the current study investigates the relationship between several prominent stressors occurring in five social contexts and criminal thinking as a coping strategy. Findings indicate that criminal thinking may be one maladaptive coping mechanism to manage stressors, such as gendered racism, financial stress, and network loss, that occur across these multiple social contexts for African American women in prison and on probation. Spirituality, on the other hand, seems to operate as a buffer. Implications for practice include promoting programs that strengthen a sense of collective identity in the community, as well as hiring more African American women who could provide additional culturally-competent behavioral health services in criminal justice professions.

A total population-based cohort study of female psychiatric inpatients who have served a prison sentence

BACKGROUND

Studies of the overlap between severe mental disorder and criminality tend to focus on prison populations rather than psychiatric populations.

AIMS

Our aims were to establish the prevalence of previous imprisonment among female psychiatric inpatients and test relationships between diagnoses, mortality and imprisonment.

METHODS

A nationwide cohort of 18-65-year-old women who had been hospitalised for psychiatric disorder between January 1983 and March 2008 was identified from a hospital records database and linked to the database of the Prison and Probation Administration of Iceland as well as the National Register of causes of death at Statistics Iceland from January 1985.

RESULTS

Six thousand and ninety-four women had had at least one psychiatric hospitalisation, 102 of them had been imprisoned on 172 occasions between them, giving an imprisonment rate of 118 per 100,000 over the 24 year period of study. The crude imprisonment proportion was 1.7% during a 20-year follow-up period; it was at its peak (5%) among 18-30 year-olds at index admission. Substance use and personality disorders were the most common diagnoses associated with imprisonment. Mortality rates were not statistically different between those imprisoned and not (hazard ratio = 1.3, 95% confidence interval 0.5-3.5).

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Women admitted to a psychiatric hospital have higher rates of imprisonment than the general population. Because admission predated imprisonment in most cases, this may be seen as an opportunity for early intervention to reduce later criminality.

Comorbid mental illness and criminalness implications for housing and treatment

The relationship between mental illness, violence, and criminal behavior is complex, and involves a multifaceted interaction of biological, psychological, and social processes. In this article, we review the emerging research that examines the neurobiological and psychological factors that distinguish between persons with mental illness who do and who do not engage in crime and violence. Additionally, a novel model for understanding the interaction between mental illness and criminalness is proposed. (As defined by Morgan and colleagues, criminalness is defined as behavior that breaks laws and social conventions and/or violates the rights and wellbeing of others.) Stemming from this model and outlined research, we argue that management and treatment approaches should target the co-occurring domains of mental illness and criminalness to improve criminal and psychiatric outcomes. Specifically, we discuss and propose effective housing (management) and biopsychosocial intervention strategies for improving outcomes.

Exploring parenting as a predictor of criminogenic thinking in college students

Crime-promoting cognitions and attitudes, globally labeled as criminogenic thinking, are shown to perpetuate maladaptive and antisocial behavior in criminals and nonoffenders. In the nonoffender population, these thinking patterns may not lead to illegal behavior, but can result in irresponsible or maladaptive behavioral consequences. Theories suggest that early childhood parent-child interactions may be partly responsible for the development of criminogenic thinking. While the relationship between parenting and antisocial behavior is well documented, the connection between parenting and the development of criminogenic thinking styles has not yet been explored. The current study examined the nature of the relationship between exposure to parenting behaviors and subsequent criminogenic thoughts in a nonoffender, college population. The sample included 119 undergraduates. Results indicate that parenting may affect general criminogenic thinking as well as specific types of criminogenic thinking styles. Relevance and importance of the findings with regard to clinical work and parenting are also discussed.

Targeting criminal recidivism in mentally ill offenders: structured clinical approaches

Decreasing criminal recidivism in justice-involved individuals with mental illness, is among the most consistently desired outcomes by programs, policy makers and funding agencies. Evidence-based practices with track records of effectiveness in treating mental illness and co-occurring substance abuse, while important clinically, do not necessarily address criminal recidivism. Addressing recidivism, therefore, may require a more targeted criminal justice focus. In this paper, we describe recent challenges to decriminalization approaches and review factors associated with recurrent criminal behavior. In particular, we focus on structured clinical interventions which were created or adapted to target the thoughts and behaviors associated with criminal justice contact.