Does emotion matter? The role of alexithymia in violent recidivism: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Background Several variables have been evidenced for their association with violent reoffending. Resultant interventions have been suggested, yet the rate of recidivism remains high. Alexithymia, characterised by deficits in emotion processing and verbal expression, might interact with these other risk factors to affect outcomes. Aim Our goal was to examine the role of alexithymia as a possible moderator of risk factors for violent offender recidivism. Our hypothesis was that, albeit with other risk factors, alexithymia increases the risk of violent reoffending. Method We conducted a systematic literature review, using terms for alexithymia and violent offending and their intersection. Results (a) No study that directly tests the role of alexithymia in conjunction with other potential risk factors for recidivism and actual violent recidivism was uncovered. (b) Primarily alexithymia researchers and primarily researchers into violence have separately found several clinical features in common between aspects of alexithymia and violence, such as impulsivity (total n = 24 studies). (c) Other researchers have established a relationship between alexithymia and both dynamic and static risk factors for violent recidivism (n = 16 studies). Conclusion Alexithymia may be a possible moderator of risk of violent offence recidivism. Supplementing offenders' rehabilitation efforts with assessments of alexithymia may assist in designing individually tailored interventions to promote desistance among violent offenders.

The Importance of Considering Alexithymia during Initial Stages of Intimate Partner Violence Interventions to Design Adjuvant Treatments

“…Additionally, it is necessary to keep in mind that our data also revealed that the IPVAW perpetrators presented an average score which was higher than the cut-off score ( > 61) on TAS-20 which indicated the existence of a marked presence of alexithymia in this group. These results were in line with previous studies in this field of research [6,7,9,10,11]. We also demonstrated the robust association of alexithymia with dropout and risk of reoffending.…”

“…The authors concluded that alexithymic traits were associated with dysexecutive symptoms, high impulsivity, and poor empathic skills [9]. Moreover, these symptoms could be worse if individuals present other risk factors for violence, such as drug misuse [10,11]. This might explain the tendency of these individuals to experience violent outbursts when they cope with stress.…”

Processing of Emotions in Speech in Forensic Patients With Schizophrenia: Impairments in Identification, Selective Attention, and Integration of Speech Channels

“…Research has identified multiple risk factors for aggressive and violent behavior related to schizophrenia (23)(24)(25). Deficits in affective processing are suggested as one of the main precursors to violent behavior (26). This type of difficulty is also one of the key features of schizophrenia as defined by the DSM [DSM-5, (27)] and has been identified in various studies [e.g., (6,28,29)].…”

“…spoken with a stern, serious prosody. As violent offenders may display a "hostile attribution bias, " a tendency to view neutral expressions and behaviors as hostile [(82); for a review, see (26)], failing to inhibit the (negative) prosodic cues may lead to inappropriate social reactions for forensic patients with schizophrenia [see also (83)]. Indeed, poor executive functioning (e.g., inhibition) has also been associated with the risk of aggressive-behavior recidivism in schizophrenic patients (72).…”

Assessing alexithymia in forensic settings: Psychometric properties of the 20‐item Toronto Alexithymia Scale among incarcerated adult offenders

“…High levels are an important risk factor for psychiatric disorders characterised by emotional dysregulation (Taylor et al, 1999). Interest in the construct has now extended to forensic settings, with many authors examining alexithymia in offender populations and hypothesising that it might help account for individual differences in criminal behaviour (e.g., Gillespie, Garofalo, & Velotti, 2018; Leshem, van Lieshout, Ben‐David, & Ben‐David, 2019; Payne & Hollin, 2014). Accurate alexithymia assessment is thus important.…”