Emotionality during and after the Commissions of an Offence: A Look at Offence-Related Shame and Intrusive Memories in Justice-Involved Adult Males

Assessing moral injury and its clinical associations in a U.K. secure care population.

“…Moral codes are inherent in the forensic system which detains individuals for having transgressed societal moral norms. Forensic populations experience social exclusion and stigma which are factors that have been shown to exacerbate MI-related distress (Maddocks, 2021; Mossière & Marche, 2020; Ternes et al, 2019). Research suggests that clinicians can be unaware or reluctant to explore moral emotional experiences, with few reporting having heard of MI (Levi-Belz & Zerach, 2022; Maddocks, 2021; Roth et al, 2021; Williamson, Murphy, Stevelink, et al, 2020).…”

“…The study designed a questionnaire containing an introductory statement defining MI and five items based on the characteristics of PMIEs (see the ). The statement and questions were adapted from other studies including U.K. military personnel (Williamson, Murphy, Stevelink, et al, 2020) and Canadian male offenders (Mossière & Marche, 2020; Ternes et al, 2019), with wording modified to a nonmilitary context and for readability. The five items evaluated event frequency and age (years; e.g., “Is there an event or multiple events your answers relate to?” rated “Yes, one event”; “Yes, multiple events”; “No”; “Don’t know”), the effect of drugs/alcohol during the event(s), and for whom the event(s) involved (e.g., “Family”; “Friend”; “Someone you knew informally”; “Stranger”).…”

“…Those responding with “multiple events” were asked to think about the most recent/impactful event, and those answering “no event” were retained for comparison. These procedures follow recommendations from across the literature showing that meaningful research on MI is possible without knowing in-depth details about PMIEs (Frederickson, 2019; Mossière & Marche, 2020; Williamson, Murphy, Castro, et al, 2020).…”

“…of PMIEs (see the online supplemental materials). The statement and questions were adapted from other studies including U.K. military personnel (Williamson, Murphy, Stevelink, et al, 2020) and Canadian male offenders (Mossière & Marche, 2020;Ternes et al, 2019), with wording modified to a nonmilitary context and for readability. The five items evaluated event frequency and age (years; e.g., "Is there an event or multiple events your answers relate to?"…”

“…Not only are PMIEs distressing and pose risks for vulnerable individuals, but they likely relate to judicial concerns, which could arguably prevent disclosure for fear of legal ramifications (Williamson, Murphy, Castro, et al, 2020). Offense-induced PTSD can occur when a person experiences PTSD symptoms because of their actions, such as committing a crime (Chung et al, 2016; Mossière & Marche, 2020), and has been associated with increased aggression, violent outbursts, and higher rates of committed offenses (Sommer et al, 2017; Widom, 2014). The prevalence of offense-related PTSD among convicted homicide perpetrators is 42.6% (Badenes-Ribera et al, 2021).…”