The moral reasoning abilities of men and women with intellectual disabilities who have a history of criminal offending behaviour

Abstract

(2015) The moral reasoning abilities of men and women with intellectual disabilities who have a history of criminal offending behaviour. Legal AbstractPurpose. The current study had the following two aims (a) to examine the moral reasoning abilities of four groups of people: (i) men and women with IDs who had a documented history of criminal offending, and (ii) men and women with IDs and no such history, and (b) to examine the relationship between emotional and behavioural problems and moral reasoning. It was predicted that (a) there would be no significant difference between the moral reasoning of men and women with IDs, (b) men and women with IDs who are not offenders will have "developmentally immature" moral reasoning in comparison to offenders, and (c) moral reasoning will significantly predict emotional and behavioural problems. Methods. Sixty-eight men and women with mild intellectual disabilities (IDs) with and without a history of criminal offending were recruited and asked to complete measures of intelligence, moral reasoning, and emotional/behavioural problems.Results. As predicted, men and women did not have different moral reasoning, but offenders did have "developmentally more mature" moral reasoning than nonoffenders. Women had higher levels of physical and verbal aggression, while offenders, generally, had higher levels of psychopathology. Women with a history of criminal offending had higher levels of sexually inappropriate behaviour compared to men and women in the community. Moral reasoning significantly predicted emotional and behavioural problems. Conclusions. Further work in this area is needed, and interventions that aim to address a moral developmental "delay" may be beneficial in reducing recidivism amongst this population.Running head: MORAL REASONING

Attentional bias toward negative and positive pictorial stimuli and its relationship with distorted cognitions, empathy, and moral reasoning among men with intellectual disabilities who have committed crimes

“…Examining the moral developmental stage of participants across the constructs assessed by the Sociomoral Reflection Measure‐Short Form, for those with no history of criminal offending, moral reasoning about the Law was more “immature” and associated with reasoning likely to characterize an earlier stage, and based upon adherence to rules and avoidance of punishment, while this group also had a significantly lower Full‐Scale IQ; this may partially explain why these participants did not have a history of criminal offending. This finding has been previously reported (Langdon, Murphy, et al, 2011; McDermott & Langdon, 2016), and Langdon, Clare, et al (2011) discussed this further where they argued that many people with intellectual disabilities may be at lower risk of committing criminal offenses because they present with “immature” moral reasoning. Further evidence of a curvilinear relationship between crime and intelligence was reported by Mears and Cochran (2013) using a large sample from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, and they supposed that moral development may be related to intelligence and further explain this curvilinear relationship.…”

“…Further, men with intellectual disabilities who had a history of committing crimes had more “mature” moral reasoning than those without such a history. This finding has been reported in other studies (Langdon, Murphy, et al, 2011; McDermott & Langdon, 2016), and the literature in this area has been previously reviewed (Langdon, Clare, & Murphy, 2010), but the finding is inconsistent with meta‐analytic work showing an inverse relationship between moral development and criminal offending (Van Vugt et al, 2011), where increasingly “mature” moral reasoning is associated with less criminal behavior. This is likely to be associated with the lack of individuals within these studies who present with moral reasoning characterized by the earliest developmental stages, which can be seen within some adults with intellectual disabilities.…”

“…The Sociomoral Reflection Measure‐Short Form (Gibbs, Basinger, & Fuller, 1992) was used to measure moral reasoning. This is a production instrument which has been used with men and women with intellectual disabilities, where it was read to participants, including those with a history of criminal offending (Langdon, Murphy, Clare, & Palmer, 2010; Langdon, Murphy, Clare, Steverson, & Palmer, 2011; McDermott & Langdon, 2016) and it has been shown to possess substantial internal consistent and good test–retest reliability (Langdon, Murphy, et al, 2010). The measure is comprised of 11 questions pertaining to 7 constructs including Contract, Truth, Affiliation, Life, Law, and Legal Justice.…”

The reliabilty and validity of a revised version of the How I Think Questionnaire for men who have intellectual disabilities

“…On first glance, the positive correlation between moral development and distorted cognitions may appear counterintuitive, as more mature moral development should be associated with fewer distorted cognitions, considering there is a negative relationship between moral development and offending behaviours amongst adolescents (Stams et al, 2006). However, as previously reported and discussed in several studies, it appears the case that both men or women with IDs who have a history of criminal offending appear to have more "mature" moral development, in comparison to people with IDs and no such history; bearing in mind that both groups present with "immature" moral development in comparison to typically developing, chronological age matched peers (Langdon, Clare, & Murphy, 2010a, 2010bLangdon, Clare, & Murphy, 2011a;Langdon et al, 2010c;Langdon et al, 2011c;McDermott & Langdon, 2016).…”

Consistency between preconventional and conventional moral judgments and behaviour among 15–17-year-old adolescents living in foster care: Four case studies

“…Tai sukėlė diskusijas apie praktinį moralės raidos teorijos pritaikymą, todėl ji neretai vadinta pernelyg moksline ir filosofine, sunkiai taikytina realiose situacijose (Gilligan, 1982;Gibbs, 2007;Shrader, 2015;McDermott ir Langdon, 2016); • ne absoliučiai patvirtinta progredientinė moralės raidos stadijų seka; reiški-nio priežastys ypač neaiškios vėlyvosios paauglystės metu (Colby ir Kohlberg, 1987a). Taigi šį tyrimą planavome remdamiesi keliomis prielaidomis: a) svarbu nagrinėti globos namuose gyvenančių paauglių funkcionavimą, nes būtent ši gyvenamoji aplinka gali kelti iššūkių sėkmingai paauglių raidai.…”