Investigation of the hostile attribution bias toward ambiguous facial cues in antisocial violent offenders

BackgroundWhy is it that certain violent criminals repeatedly find themselves engaged in brawls? Many inmates report having felt provoked or threatened by their victims, which might be due to a tendency to ascribe malicious intentions when faced with ambiguous social signals, termed hostile attribution bias.MethodsThe present study presented morphed fear-anger faces to prison inmates with a history of violent crimes, a history of child sexual abuse, and to matched controls form the general population. Participants performed a fear-anger decision task. Analyses compared both response frequencies and measures derived from psychophysical functions fitted to the data. In addition, a test to distinguish basic facial expressions and questionnaires for aggression, psychopathy and personality disorders were administered.ResultsViolent offenders present with a reliable hostile attribution bias, in that they rate ambiguous fear-anger expressions as more angry, compared to both the control population and perpetrators of child sexual abuse. Psychometric functions show a lowered threshold to detect anger in violent offenders compared to the general population. This effect is especially pronounced for male faces, correlates with self-reported aggression and presents in absence of a general emotion recognition impairment.ConclusionsThe results indicate that a hostile attribution, related to individual level of aggression and pronounced for male faces, might be one mechanism mediating physical violence.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40359-017-0186-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…full-blown fear) to another (e.g. full-blown anger), with ambiguous faces (half-fearful, half-angry) in the middle of the spectrum [11, 12]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In your face: the biased judgement of fear-anger expressions in violent offenders

2017

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“…Schönenberg & Jusyte, 2014). Classification of neutral or low-intensity facial expressions may provide insights into attributional biases (Crick & Dodge, 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does comorbid anxiety counteract emotion recognition deficits in conduct disorder?

Short

Sonuga‐Barke

Adams

et al. 2016

Child Psychology Psychiatry

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“…Adult offenders have documented difficulties with the encoding and interpretation of social cues (e.g. Hoaken, Allaby, & Earle, 2007;Schönenberg &Jusyte, 2014;Gillespie et al, 2015) goal clarification and response construction (Losel & Beelman, 2008), moral judgement (Palmer, 2003) and intrinsically, the behavioural enactment stages of the Garrigan and Langdon model (in press). Similar findings have been reported in populations of people with intellectual disabilities and difficulties with aggression (Pert, Jahoda, & Squire, 1999;Jahoda, Pert, & Trower, 2006;Pert & Jahoda, 2008;Larkin, Jahoda & MacMahon, 2013) or offending behaviour (Langdon, Murphy, Clare, Steverson, & Palmer, 2011).…”

Section: The Role Of Sip Deficits In Offending Behaviourmentioning

confidence: 99%

The clinical utility of social information processing theory in assessing and treating offenders with autism spectrum disorder

Chester¹,

Langdon

2016

AIA

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Purpose: Social deficits are central within conceptualisations of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and seperately linked to offending behaviour. Social problem solving interventions are often used with offenders, but little research has examined the social information processing (SIP) skills of individuals with ASD and a history of criminal offending behaviours.Design/methodology/approach: This conceptual paper will introduce the SIP model, review SIP research as applied to those with ASD and in forensic populations, and further consider the relevance to the assessment and treatment of offenders with ASD.Findings: Difficulties in all areas of the SIP model are noted in ASD and research suggests these difficulties may be directly linked to behaviour. Practical implications:It is possible that identifying SIP abilities and deficits could improve the effectiveness of rehabilitation programmes for this group. Originality/value: This paper reviews the utility of social information models in the offending behaviour of people with ASD. IntroductionPeople with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who engage in offending behaviour are a small but overrepresented group within the criminal justice system. Although a topic of interest in academic literature, there has been little theoretically driven research. WoodburySmith et al. (2005; highlighted that when considering vulnerability to offending in ASD, risk factors identified in the general criminological literature are relevant, e.g. low IQ, poor educational achievement, and hyperactivity-impulsivity-inattention; as well as ASD specific risk factors, such as poor social understanding, circumscribed interests, difficulties in adjusting to the diagnosis and social exclusion. Social problem solving interventions are considered effective for reducing offending behaviours (e.g. McMurran et al., 1999), and while social deficits are part of the conceptualisation of ASD, and independently linked to offending behaviour, social information processing (SIP) models have not been applied to those with both ASD and a history of criminal offending behaviours. This conceptual paper aims to introduce the SIP model, review SIP research involving both those with ASD, and those with offending behaviours. Furthermore, the utility of SIP models in explaining and treating some of the specific difficulties faced by those with ASD who have a history of criminal offending behaviours will be examined. What is Social Information Processing and how is it affected in Autism Spectrum Disorder?Social information processing (SIP) models aim to increase understanding of antisocial behaviour (van Nieuwenhuijzen et al., 2004;Stickle, Kirkpatrick & Brush, 2009) and have been described as one of the most fruitful areas of study for understanding the processes implicated in persistent aggression (Bowen, Roberts, Kocian, & Bartula, 2014; Stickle, Kirkpatrick & Brush, 2009). The most well-known SIP model is that of Crick and Dodge (1994;1996;Dodge, 1986;Dodge & Price, 1994). According to their model, several...

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Investigation of the hostile attribution bias toward ambiguous facial cues in antisocial violent offenders

Cited by 85 publications

References 31 publications

In your face: the biased judgement of fear-anger expressions in violent offenders

In your face: the biased judgement of fear-anger expressions in violent offenders

Does comorbid anxiety counteract emotion recognition deficits in conduct disorder?

The clinical utility of social information processing theory in assessing and treating offenders with autism spectrum disorder

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