Criminal attitudes to violence: Development and preliminary validation of a scale for male prisoners

Abstract

Two studies report on the development and preliminary psychometric properties of a new scale measuring criminal attitudes to violence. In Study 1, the responses of a mixed sample of male prisoners were used to select 20 scale items from a larger pool. The final scale (the Criminal Attitudes to Violence Scale; CAVS) was designed so that it had a single-factor structure and was uncorrelated with a measure of social desirability bias. It demonstrated high internal reliability, and a strong relationship to a self-report measure of physical aggression. Significant differences were found in CAVS mean scores for various offence history comparisons, such as whether or not the offender was currently on sentence for a violent conviction. In the second study, most results from the first study were replicated with an independent sample of male prisoners. Further, compared to another scale measuring attitudes to aggression [the EXPAGG Instrumental subscale; Archer and Haigh, 1997b], the CAVS was a better predictor of general attitudes to crime. Mean CAVS scores were again significantly higher for current violent offenders than those on sentence for other types of offences. Lastly, the CAVS was moderately predictive of estimated risk of reconviction and re-imprisonment. Overall these results suggest that this scale measures the construct of attitudes to criminal violence, which partially overlaps two other constructs: attitudes to aggression and attitudes to crime. Aggr.

Latent classes of criminal intent associated with criminal behaviour

“…Another potential explanation for the inverse relationship among the high criminal intent group could be a proactive, reactive difference among this high group Walters, 2009). The association between criminal intent group membership and only one offence type -violent offending -is consistent with the suggestion that criminogenic cognitions may not be engaged in equally by different offender groups (Polaschek et al, 2004;Wilson et al, 2003). The reason for the negative association between violent offenses and membership in the 'High criminal intent' group is, however, unclear.…”

“…Although certain thinking styles promote criminal behaviour, these criminogenic cognitions may not be engaged in equally by different offender groups (Polaschek, Collie & Walkey, 2004;Wilson, Attrill & Nugent, 2003). Sex offenders and white-collar criminals are two groups of offenders that typically score lower than other offenders on criminal thinking scales (Hatch-Maillette, Scalora, Huss & Baumgartner, 2001;.…”

A Multi-Site Controlled Trial of the R&R2MHP Cognitive Skills Program for Mentally Disordered Female Offenders

“…Consistent with the findings of the present study, the ad hoc per protocol analysis of Cullen et al"s [18] 12-month follow-up data found a treatment effect for violent attitudes. Thus "softer" measures evaluating antisocial attitudes are likely to be important early markers due to their association with offending [41][42][43][44]. Thus antisocial attitudes and behaviors, together with reconviction rates, should be the primary benchmarks for evaluating OBPs in MDOs.…”

“…Calculations performed at 80% power with an alpha level of 0.05 suggested that 35 participants per group were needed to detect a difference in the primary outcome measure of violent attitudes using the Total MVQ score with an effect size of . 42 …”

Risk Factors for Recidivistic Arson in Adult Offenders

“…Attitudes during treatment, core beliefs associated with the offending behaviour, and empathy are identified as significant factors in considering the risk of recidivism of violent offenders, with negative attitudes and poor engagement in treatment linked to increased recidivism (Andrews & Bonta, 2006;Polaschek, Collie, & Walkey, 2004). Deficits in social perception and empathy, as well as cognitive distortions have been highlighted as pertinent factors in risk assessment of sex offenders (Blake & Gannon, 2010).…”