Using a social projection paradigm, the present study investigated offenders’ beliefs that “everyone breaks the law.” A modified Tolerance for Law Violations Scale (TLV) was completed by 103 male provincial prison inmates and 135 male nonoffenders. Participants subsequently estimated either the percentage of offenders or nonoffenders who would agree with their responses to each of the 10 items that compose the TLV. As predicted, offenders scored significantly higher on the TLV than nonoffenders, indicating that offenders are more likely to see law violations as acceptable behavior. In addition, offenders significantly overestimated the actual percentage of offenders and nonoffenders who would endorse criminal sentiments and behaviors; that is, offenders believed that criminal conduct was normative behavior for not only offenders but for nonoffenders as well. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of social norms theory and social norms intervention within a prison setting.
AndrewsD. A.WormithJ. S. (1984). Criminal sentiments and criminal behavior. Program branch user report, Ministry of the Solicitor General of Canada, Ottawa.
2.
BäckströmM.BjörklundF. (2008). The Measures of Criminal Attitudes and Associates (MCAA): Further testing of structural and criterion-related validity. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 35, 1398-1410.
3.
BaerJ. S.StacyA.LarimerM. (1991). Biases in the perception of drinking norms among college students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 52, 580-586.
4.
BlackD. W.MonahanP.BaumgardC. H.BellS. E. (1997). Predictors of long-term outcome in 45 men with antisocial personality disorder. Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, 9, 211-217.
5.
BottomsA.ShaplandJ.CostelloA.HolmesD.MuirG. (2004). Towards desistance: Theoretical underpinnings for an empirical study. Howard Journal, 43, 368-389.
6.
BurnsL. J.KnussenC. (2005). False consensus and accuracy of perceptions of nurses regarding universal precaution practices. Psychology, Health and Medicine, 10, 344-354.
7.
EaglyA. H.ChaikenS. (2007). The advantages of an inclusive definition of attitude. Social Cognition, 25, 582-602.
8.
ElekE.Miller-DayM.HechtM. L. (2006). Influences of personal, injunctive, and descriptive norms on early adolescent substance abuse. Journal of Drug Issues, 36, 147-172.
9.
GendreauP.AndrewsD. A.GogginsC.ChanteloupeF. (1992). The development of clinical and policy guidelines for the prediction of criminal behaviour in criminal justice settings. Ottawa: Ministry of the Solicitor General Canada.
10.
GendreauP.GogginC.LawM. A. (1997). Predicting prison misconducts. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 24, 414-431.
11.
GendreauP.GrantB. A.LeipcigerM.CollinsC. (1979). Norms and recidivism rates for the MMPI and selected experimental scales on a Canadian delinquent sample. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 11, 21-31.
12.
GiordanoP.CernkovichS.RudolphJ. (2002). Gender, crime and desistance: Toward a theory of cognitive transformation. American Journal of Sociology, 107, 990-1064.
13.
HareR. D.ForthA. E.StrachanK. E. (1992). Psychopathy and crime across the lifespan. In PetersR. D.McMahonR. J. (Eds.), Aggression and violence throughout the lifespan (pp. 285-300). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
14.
HealyD. (2010). Betwixt and between: The role of psychosocial factors in the early stages of desistance. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 47, 419-438.
15.
HirschiT.GottfredsonM. (1983). Age and the explanation of crime. American Journal of Sociology, 89, 552-584.
16.
KruegerJ. I. (1998). On the perception of social consensus. In ZannaM. P. (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 30, pp. 163-240). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
17.
KruegerJ. I. (2007). From social projection to social behaviour. European Review of Social Psychology, 18, 1-35.
18.
LapinskiM. K.RimalR. N. (2005). An explication of social norms. Communication Theory, 15, 127-147.
19.
MansteadA. S. R.ParkerD.StradlingS. G.ReasonJ. T.BaxterJ. S. (2005). Perceived consensus in estimates of the prevalence of driving errors and violations. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 22, 509-530.
20.
MillsJ. F.KronerD. G. (1997). The Criminal Sentiments Scale: Predictive validity in a sample of violent and sex offenders. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53, 399-404.
21.
MillsJ. F.KronerD. G.ForthA. E. (2002). Measures of Criminal Attitudes and Associates (MACC): Development, factor structure, reliability, and validity. Assessment, 9, 240-253.
22.
MullenB.AtkinsJ. L.ChampionD. S.EdwardsC.HardyDStoryJ. E.VanderklokM. (1985). The false consensus effect: A meta-analysis of 155 hypothesis tests. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 21, 262-283.
23.
MullenB.DovidioJ. F.JohnsonC.CopperC. (1992). In-group-out-group differences in social projection. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 28, 422-440.
24.
MullenB.HuL. (1988). Social projection as a function of cognitive mechanisms: Two meta-analytic integrations. British Journal of Social Psychology, 27, 333-356.
25.
ProchaskaJ. O.DiClementeC. C. (1986). The transtheoretical approach: Towards a systematic eclectic framework. In NorcrossJ. C. (Ed.), Handbook of eclectic psychotherapy (pp. 163-200). New York, NY: Brunner/Mazel.
26.
RikettaM.SacramentoC. A. (2008). “They cooperate with us, so they are like me”: Perceived intergroup relationship moderates projection from self to outgroups. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 11, 115-131.
27.
RimalR. N.RealK. (2005). How behaviours are influenced by perceived norms: A test of the theory of normative social behaviour. Communication Research, 32, 389-414.
28.
RossL.GreeneD.HouseP. (1977). The “false consensus effect”: An egocentric bias in social perception and attribution processes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 13, 279-301.
29.
RossL.NisbettR. (1991). The person and the situation: Perspectives of social psychology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
30.
SchollyK.KatzA. R.GascoigneJ.HolckP. S. (2005). Using social norms theory to explain perceptions and sexual health behaviors of undergraduate college students: An exploratory study. Journal of American College Health, 53, 159-166.
31.
ShermanS. J.PressonC. C.ChassinL. (1984). Mechanisms underlying the false consensus effect: The special role of threats to the self. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 10, 127-138.
32.
ShermanS. J.PressonC. C.ChassinL.CortyE.OlshavskyR. (1983). The false consensus effect in estimates of smoking prevalence. Underlying mechanisms. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 9, 127-138.
33.
ShieldsI. W.SimourdD. J. (1991). Predicting predatory behaviour in a population of young offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 18, 180-194.
34.
SimourdD. J. (1996). Criminal attitudes: The silent partner in crime. In Symposium on violence and aggression: 6th (pp. 29-34). Saskatoon, Canada: University of Saskatchewan.
35.
SimourdD. J.AndrewsD. A. (1994). Correlations of delinquency: A look at gender differences. Forum on Correctional Research, 6, 26-31.
36.
SimourdD. J.OlverM. E. (2002). The future of criminal attitudes research and practice. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 29, 427-446.
37.
SulsJ.WanC. K. (1987). In search of the false-uniqueness phenomenon: Fear and estimates of social consensus. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 211-217.
38.
SulsJ.WanC. K.SandersG. S. (1988). False consensus and false uniqueness in estimating the prevalence of health-protective behaviors. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 18, 66-79.
39.
SutherlandE. H. (1947). Principles of criminology (4th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippincott.
40.
SykesG. M.MatzaD. (1957). Techniques of neutralization: A theory of delinquency. American Sociological Review, 22, 664-670.
41.
TabachnikN.CrockerJ.AlloyL. B. (1983). Depression, social comparison, and the false-consensus effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 688-699.
42.
WahrmanR. (2010). Status, deviance and sanctions: A critical review. Small Group Research, 41, 91-105.
43.
WaltersG. D. (2003). Changes in criminal thinking and identity in novice and experienced inmates: Prisonization revisited. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 30, 399-421.
44.
WaltersG. D. (2006). Appraising, researching and conceptualizing criminal thinking: A personal view. Criminal Justice and Mental Health, 16, 87-99.
45.
WaltersG. D.McCoyK. (2007). Taxometric analysis of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles in incarcerated offenders and college students. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34, 781-793.
46.
WetzelC. G.WaltonM. D. (1985). Developing biased social judgments: The false-consensus effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 1352-1359.
47.
WhitleyB. E.Jr. (1998). False consensus on sexual behaviour among college women: Comparison of four theoretical explanations. Journal of Sex Research, 35, 206-214.
48.
WolfsonS. (2000). Students’ estimates of the prevalence of drug use: Evidence for a false consensus effect. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 14, 295-298.
