International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology

This article addresses the intra- and extra-familial pathways of child molestation. The data presented show preliminary evidence that the difference between the intra- and extra-familial routes can be explained by schizoid and avoidant (intra-familial) and antisocial and passive—aggressive (extra-familial) personality structures. This study also reveals that the amount of warmth and autonomy received during childhood is associated with both intra- and extra-familial child-molesting behaviour. These findings contribute to a further explanation of this deviant sexual conduct and to the development and differentiation of the treatment of child molesters.

Fifteen inmates from Ayalon prison, a maximum-security prison in Israel, who were convicted of murder, attempted murder, or manslaughter of their female intimate partner, have participated in a study designed to examine integrated variables—personal, interpersonal, and environmental—familial—connected with this phenomenon. Analyses of the in-depth interviews demonstrate that despite the different motivations the perpetrators displayed with regard to the murder, they share some common themes. On the basis of these themes, three primary types of female intimate partner murderers have been identified; each of them represents a personal narrative as follows: the betrayed, the abandoned, and the tyrant. The proposed typology might be used for establishing a common language among researchers, scholars, and workers in this field. It can also contribute to the existing clinical tools in terms of prediction, prevention, and treatment initiatives that currently focus on violence.

Offender rehabilitation, pitting the rational ability of criminal justice against the seeming irrationality of criminal behavior, remains controversial. Psychology highlights the importance of emotions in mediating individual behavior. Borrowing from restorative justice as a more emotionally intelligent form of justice, this article examines the role of shame and guilt in a domestic violence offender treatment program. The emotions are differentiated and then activated, similar to the use of reintegrative shaming in restorative justice, to promote greater offender accountability and empathy. Using a two-group comparison of male domestic violence offenders, measurements were taken on three sets of scales in assessing the outcome of the shame transformation process. Statistically significant effects were found for self-esteem and empathetic concern. Findings and future research are discussed.

This study examines how registered sex offenders (RSOs) experience, respond to, and attribute stress regarding sex offender registration and notification process and policies. In addition, the frequency and reasons for Internet access is assessed, with a focus on how new legislation in New Jersey (P.L. 2007, C.219) limits or blocks such access. Drawing on survey data from a random sample of 1,000 RSOs in New Jersey, responses from 107 RSOs show significant levels of stress, significant losses due to restrictions on Internet access, and coping methods associated with higher and lower stress levels. The most significant loss reported by the sample related to employment search difficulties. Factors associated with increased levels of stress include using self-distraction for coping and not accepting the situation. Surprisingly, being forced to move because of financial reasons is associated with lower levels of stress.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a cognitive intervention program for juvenile offenders. Using the How I Think (HIT) Questionnaire, 165 offenders from three juvenile correctional facilities in Wisconsin are assessed after completion of the first two phases of the Juvenile Cognitive Intervention Program. Multiple t tests are used to assess change in thinking as measured by the HIT. Results indicate significant improvement in thinking across all areas as measured by the HIT. Discussion regarding the significance of the results and recommendations for future research are provided.

This study investigates the relationships between father criminality, prior delinquency, and recidivism using data from 382 incarcerated juveniles assessed in Singapore’s Juvenile Court in 2005. The juveniles are aged 13 to 16 years, with a mean of 14.55 years (SD = 0.93). Using Baron and Kenny’s framework, this study tests the prediction that the prior delinquent behaviors of the juvenile mediate the relationship between father criminality and recidivism in a four-step process. When the juvenile’s prior delinquent behaviors are included in the model, the previous significant relation between father criminality and recidivism disappears. Implications of findings in terms of applied and practical intervention and prevention work for youths in schools and those in incarceration are discussed.

Despite more than three decades of research on the relationship between values and deviance, until now results have not completely clarified what kind of relationship it is. Criminological theories (sociological and psychosocial) emphasize on a relationship between certain values, such as hedonistic and materialistic ones, and deviance, but few theorists explain whether these values are predictors of deviance. In this study, using a sample of 500 young Italians, the authors try to verify whether value systems can be considered predictors of juvenile deviance and if so, which type of value system. An attempt is made to identify what is the values’ capability to explain deviance in comparison with other psychosocial and demographic predictors. Results confirm the past findings of a relation between hedonistic and materialistic values and deviance but show only a modest and peripheral ability of values to explain deviance.

This article presents a qualitative analysis of participants’ perceptions of the importance of motivation in the detoxification and rehabilitation process. As part of an outcome evaluation of recovering drug addicts who participated in a prison-based therapeutic community, 39 participants (a nonrandomized subsample) are interviewed regarding their rehabilitation and reintegration experiences. Although many studies show that participation in prison-based drug treatment programs reduces the likelihood of recidivism, clients in this study suggest that other factors might be equally important, and in particular clients’ own motivation to change their lives. This study raises some questions about the true ability of drug treatment programs to treat and rehabilitate drug-abusing offenders, diverting the emphasis from the treatment program itself to the participants’ motivation to change. Findings are discussed in regard to prison-based drug treatment programs, after-release impediments encountered by inmates, and inmates’ expectations of successful reintegration into the normative noncriminal society.

Extreme and varied reactions are often encountered when working with patients with personality disorders. Similarly, patients with personality disorder may also hold polarised opinions of the staff involved in their treatment. This study explored the relationship between severity of personality disorder and interpersonal style in patients admitted for treatment to a secure psychiatric unit. Up to four nurses rated each patient’s interpersonal style using the Impact Message Inventory, a self-report transactional inventory. Patients then rated the interpersonal style of these same staff. Contrary to expectations, severity of personality disorder was not associated with patients’ interpersonal style or to variance in nurses’ assessments of patients’ interpersonal style. However, patients with more severe personality disorder tended to show greater variability in their assessment of nurses’ interpersonal style, specifically their appraisal of staff members’ interpersonal dominance. Implications for the assessment of offenders admitted for treatment of their personality disorder are discussed.

On the basis of the reasoning of social support theory, the authors examine the macro effect of social support on anomie at the individual level. Data from international surveys have documented wide variation in anomie across nations, but to what extent this variation among nations can be contributed to structural characteristics has not been explored before. Using hierarchical linear modeling techniques to sort out the effects of structural context and personal characteristics on anomie across 31 European and North American nations, the authors test the hypothesis that variation in social support at the national level is inversely related to individuals’ sense of anomie. The study results support the hypothesis that structural characteristics of a nation, such as social support and population growth, influence individuals’ sense of anomie. At the individual level, the results are consistent with Merton’s predictions about anomie and the reasoning of social support theory. Policy implication is discussed within the limitations of data.

The main aim of this research is to develop a profile of a thief. Through a comprehensive survey of property crime suspects arrested in the city of Ankara between 2004 and 2005, the authors have attempted to determine the socioeconomic qualities of those involved in these forms of property crimes. Results of the study show that property crimes are a consequence of low education, lack of occupational skills, and alcohol and drug addiction on the part of the offenders. Because of these factors, theft becomes a way of life for offenders after their first act of property crime.