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Key research themes
1. How do specific personality traits influence patterns and risk of criminal behavior, particularly violence and recidivism?
This theme investigates the predictive power and incremental validity of distinct personality constructs, such as psychopathy and overcontrolled hostility, in explaining not only the propensity for criminal acts but also the specificity of violent behavior patterns (e.g., frequency, variety, situational factors). Understanding these traits aids in refining risk assessment and tailoring interventions for offenders, especially juveniles tried as adults.
Key finding: This study showed that psychopathic traits had significant incremental validity for predicting the frequency, variety, and situational correlates of violence among imprisoned juveniles, outperforming historical risk factors... Read more
Key finding: In a large sample comparing incarcerated and non-incarcerated adults, while psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism did not independently predict crime, trait criminality and addiction showed significant association with... Read more
Key finding: Employing latent profile analysis with a self-report psychopathy scale, four distinct antisocial profiles of male offenders were identified, differing in psychopathy and antisocial traits. These profiles corresponded closely... Read more
Key finding: Utilizing the HEXACO model, offenders scored significantly higher on facets indicating greed and unfairness, and higher on anxiety and fearfulness, while exhibiting lower sociability facets compared to nonoffenders. The... Read more
2. What is the relationship between criminal cognitions, personality traits, and identity in sustaining criminal behavior?
This theme examines how offenders' cognitive distortions and self-identity as criminals interact with personality characteristics to maintain offending behavior. It focuses on psychological instruments measuring cognitive thinking styles related to offending, the formation of criminal social identity under environmental influences such as incarceration, and how constructs like the Dark Triad relate to intimate partner violence and criminal attitudes. Understanding these relationships informs rehabilitation strategies targeting cognitive and identity processes.
Key finding: Reanalysis of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) data indicated it primarily measures two factors: lack of thoughtfulness and wilful hostility. These cognitive criminal thinking styles relate... Read more
Key finding: The study found that while incarceration duration and pre-incarceration criminal friendships did not directly predict criminal social identity (CSI), the interpersonal manipulation facet of psychopathy moderated the positive... Read more
Key finding: Men scoring high on Dark Triad traits, especially psychopathy, exhibited increased attitudes supportive of emotional violence and control behaviors towards intimate partners. This establishes a direct personality-based... Read more
3. How do broad personality trait models differentiate offenders from non-offenders and relate to criminal desistance?
This research area explores how established personality frameworks such as the Big Five, HEXACO, and Cattell’s 16 Personality Factors describe differences between offender and non-offender populations and how these traits correlate with pathways into and out of crime. It includes gender-based comparisons, typologies of personality profiles linked to criminality, and evidences how personality traits influence reasons and mechanisms behind desistance, informing prevention and early intervention strategies.
Key finding: Surveying 100 offenders and 100 non-offenders, this study found significant mean differences in Big Five personality traits consistent with prior theory: offenders showed lower agreeableness, conscientiousness, and... Read more
Key finding: Using Cattell’s 16 PF model, seven factors—conservative, sober, expedient, self-control, imaginative, reserved, tough mindedness—were identified as discriminant markers between prisoners and non-prisoners. This highlights... Read more
Key finding: A systematic review synthesizing recent empirical works identified psychopathy, low self-control, and difficult temperament as key personality traits consistently linked with criminal behavior across varied samples. It also... Read more
Key finding: This theoretical essay emphasized that high psychopathy scores, poor self-control, and difficult temperament are principal personality characteristics predisposing individuals to criminal conduct. It argued that personality... Read more
Key finding: Through longitudinal interviews with offenders of differing ages and criminal careers, no systematic variation was found in reasons for desistance based on age or lifestyle factors. Instead, social context and salient turning... Read more