The Moderating Effect of Criminal Thinking on Certainty of Apprehension in Decisions to Engage in Antisocial Behavior: Replication and Extension

Effectiveness of Self-Compassion Intervention on Criminal Thinking in Male Prisoners

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of self-compassion intervention on criminal thinking in male prisoners. A quasi-experimental design utilizing pre-test, post-test, and follow-up test and waiting-list control groups was conducted. A total of 24 male prisoners were selected by purposeful sampling and randomized into experimental and waiting list control groups. Participants of experimental group received eight sessions of self-compassion intervention; and all participants answered to psychological inventory of criminal thinking styles (PICTS) as dependent variable at three time points (pre-test, post-test, and 2-month follow-up). A repeated measures analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. Results showed criminal thinking was significantly decreased in experimental group, as compared to control, at post-test phase (p < .01); and improvement of criminal thinking in the follow-up phase has also been continued (p < .05). Therefore, to reduce criminal behaviors or rehabilitation of prisoners, self-compassion based intervention can be used.

Criminal thinking, certainty of apprehension, and the decision to engage in antisocial behavior: A study of day treatment program clients

The purpose of this study was to determine whether criminal thinking moderates the relationship between certainty of apprehension (50%, 10%, 1%) and likelihood of engaging in three antisocial hypothetical acts (cheating on a test, property damage, and driving drunk). Proactive criminal thinking (PCT), a manifestation of the planned, calculated, amoral, and instrumental features of antisocial cognition, and reactive criminal thinking (RCT), a reflection of the impulsive, irresponsible, reckless, and emotional aspects of antisocial cognition, served as between-subjects variables in this study. A repeated measures analysis of covariance performed on 67 (43 males, 24 females) day treatment program clients revealed that the likelihood of engaging in antisocial behavior was disproportionately elevated when participants were high in PCT and low in certainty. These results indicate that as the certainty of apprehension goes down, persons with elevated levels of proactive criminal thinking are disproportionately inclined to engage in antisocial and criminal behavior.