To evaluate moral reasoning and personality, inmates from a maximum security jail were administered the Porteus Maze, the Defining Issues Test, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-168, and the Test of Nonverbal Intelligence. Scores of 20 violent and 19 nonviolent offenders were compared. The control group consisted of 20 university students who indicated they did not have criminal records. All were over the age of 18. Analysis showed the violent offenders had mature moral reasoning and were more elevated on the Antiestablishment scale of the Defining Issues Test. Furthermore, inmates displayed significantly elevated scores on depression, Psychopathic Deviance, and Social Introversion relative to the control group.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AleixoP. A.NorrisC. E. (2000) Personality and moral reasoning in young offenders. Personality and Individual Differences, 7, 609–623.
2.
BergeronT. K.ValliantP. M. (2001) Executive function and personality in adolescent and adult offenders vs. non-offenders. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 33(3), 27–45.
3.
BlasiA. (1980) Bridging moral cognition and moral action: a critical review of the literature. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 1–45.
4.
BrownL.SherbenouR. J.JohnsenS. K. (1982) Test of Nonverbal Intelligence: examiners' manual, Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
5.
CasebeerW. D.ChurghlandP. S. (2003) The neural mechanisms of moral cognition: a multiple-aspect approach to moral judgment and decision-making. Biology and Philosophy, 18, 169–194.
6.
GrahamJ. R. (2000) MMPI-2: assessing personality and psychopathology. (3rd ed.) New York: Oxford Univer. Press.
7.
GreeneJ.HaidtJ. (2002) How (and where) does moral judgment work?Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 6, 517–523.
8.
GudjonssonG. H.SigurdssonJ. E. (2000) Differences and similarities between violent offenders and sex offenders. Child Abuse and Neglect, 24, 363–372.
9.
KohlbergL. (1984) Psychology of moral development.New York: Harper & Row.
MartensW. H. J. (2002) Criminality and moral dysfunctions: neurological, biochemical, and genetic dimensions. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 46, 170–182.
12.
MorganA. B.LilienfieldS. O. (2000) A meta-analytic review of the relation between antisocial behaviour and neuropsychological measures of executive function. Clinical Psychology Review, 20, 113–136.
13.
PalermoG. B. (2005) A global view of the offender. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 49, 3–4. [Editorial]
14.
PalmerE. J. (2003) An overview of the relationship between moral reasoning and offending. Australian Psychologist, 38, 165–174.
15.
PalmerE. J.HollinC. R. (1998) A comparison of patterns of moral development in young offenders and non-offenders. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 3, 225–235.
16.
PorteusS. D. (1973) Porteus Maze Test.Palo Alto, CA: Pacific Books.
17.
RestJ. (1986) Manual for the Defining Issues Test.Minneapolis, MN: Center for the Study of Ethical Development.
18.
RestJ. (1993) Guide for the Defining Issues Test.Minneapolis, MN: Center for the Study of Ethical Development.
19.
StevensonS. F.HallG.InnesJ. M. (2004) Rationalizing criminal behaviour: the influence of criminal sentiments on sociomoral development in violent offenders and nonoffenders. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 48, 161–174.
20.
ValliantP. M.AsuM. E.CooperD.MammolaD. (1984) Profile of dangerous and non-dangerous offenders referred for pretrial psychiatric assessment. Psychological Reports, 54, 411–418.
21.
ValliantP. M.FreestonA.PottierD.KosmynaR. (2003) Personality and executive functioning as risk factors in recidivists. Psychological Reports, 92, 299–306.
22.
ValliantP. M.GauthierT.PottierD.KosmynaR. (2000) Moral reasoning, interpersonal skills, and cognition of rapists, child molesters, and incest offenders. Psychological Reports, 86, 67–75.
