Implicit self-criminal cognition and its relation to criminal behavior.

Abstract

Three studies adopted implicit social cognition theory and methodology to understand criminal cognition outside of conscious awareness or control, specifically by testing whether individual differences in implicit associations between the self and the group criminals are related to criminal behavior. A Single Category Implicit Association Test measured self-criminal associations across 3 adult samples-2 from Newark, New Jersey, a high-crime United States city, and an adult national sample from the United States. Then, all participants reported their criminal behavior in 2 cross-sectional design studies and 1 longitudinal design study. Consistent with an additive model of implicit and explicit cognition, studies generally demonstrated that strong implicit self-criminal associations increased the odds of committing a criminal act, even after accounting for explicit self-criminal cognition, past criminal behavior, and/or criminal-related demographics. This research suggests that implicit self-criminal associations serve as a cognitive marker for criminal behavior. Furthermore, the present research calls into question criminal justice policies and practices that assume that criminal behavior is exclusively driven by criminal intent. Public Significance StatementThree studies demonstrate that strong implicit self-criminal cognitive associations are linked to criminal behavior, even after controlling for the roles of explicit self-criminal cognition and criminal-related demographics. This research suggests that criminal cognition outside of conscious awareness or conscious control may be a cognitive marker for criminal behavior. Furthermore, it challenges the law and criminal justice policy and practice assumption that offenders know and control the causes of their behavior, thus suggesting that implicit social cognition should be considered in public discussions about criminal justice reform.

A Positive Versus Negative Interaction Memory Affects Parole Officers’ Implicit Associations Between the Self-Concept and the Group Parolees

“…The current study used a Single-Category Implicit Association Test (SC-IAT; Greenwald et al, 1998 ; Karpinski and Steinman, 2006 ), which uses reaction times to operationalize the strength of implicit mental associations between the self and criminal ( Rivera and Veysey, 2015 , 2018 ; Veysey and Rivera, 2017 ). Parolees are members of the group criminal.…”

“…Automatic or implicit cognitions, such as bias, also may affect interactions between actors in the justice system (e.g., between citizens and police officers, parolees and parole officers). Only recently has implicit social cognition been studied in samples of justice-involved people ( Rivera and Veysey, 2015 , 2018 ; Veysey and Rivera, 2017 ). The present study is the first to our knowledge to examine implicit self-cognitions among actors in the justice system.…”

“…Like other social identity groups, “criminals,” including parolees, self-categorize ( Krueger, 2001 ) as criminal, and, as such, perceive themselves as sharing attributes, cognitions and experiences with the group ( Boduszek et al, 2013 ). Further, past criminal experiences are sufficient for individuals to identify the self both explicitly ( Asencio, 2011 ; Boduszek et al, 2013 ) and implicitly ( Rivera and Veysey, 2015 , 2018 ; Veysey and Rivera, 2017 ) with the group criminal. Indeed, repeated studies have established the IAT as a reliable and valid measure of implicit self-criminal associations ( Rivera and Veysey, 2015 , 2018 ; Veysey and Rivera, 2017 ).…”

“…Further, past criminal experiences are sufficient for individuals to identify the self both explicitly ( Asencio, 2011 ; Boduszek et al, 2013 ) and implicitly ( Rivera and Veysey, 2015 , 2018 ; Veysey and Rivera, 2017 ) with the group criminal. Indeed, repeated studies have established the IAT as a reliable and valid measure of implicit self-criminal associations ( Rivera and Veysey, 2015 , 2018 ; Veysey and Rivera, 2017 ). The present research, measuring the extent to which parole officers implicitly associate themselves with their parolees, extends past work on direct personal experience as a criminal to indirect personal experience with a member of the group criminal (i.e., parolee).…”

Do adolescent risk assessment tools capture self-reported reasons for desistance? An examination of the content validity of protective factors

“…n = 777;Hanniball et al, 2018), and people engaging in crime(n = 118;Rivera & Veysey, 2018). Recently, a doctoral dissertation study used MTurk to recruit adults with a history of arrests during adolescence, with no arrest history in adulthood(n = 227; Vigil, 2017), which was similar to a sample from a similar population (although individuals across the different states may represent a heterogeneous group).…”