ABSTRACT

Previous studies suggest that the process of becoming desistant from crime is accompanied by a shift from criminal to law-abiding identity and by the development of self-efficacy for law-abiding behavior. Utilizing self-report measures and an Implicit Association Test we predicted that a) a stronger law-abiding relative to criminal identity and a stronger/weaker self-efficacy for law-abiding/criminal behavior will correlate with lower actuarial recidivism risk at T1 and b) will explain variance in desistance two to three years later at T2. Results from a probation offender sample (N = 325) largely confirmed cross-sectional associations at T1. Univariately, self-reported and latency-based measured identity for law-abiding relative to criminal behavior explained variance in (survival time until) recidivism at T2 as opposed to self-efficacy for law-abiding or criminal behavior. Multivariately, self-reported law-abiding relative to criminal identity explained variance in survival time until recidivism beyond actuarial recidivism risk at T2. Further analyses showed that actuarial recidivism risk increasingly overestimated the risk to reoffend as the strength of law-abiding relative to criminal identity increased. The findings indicate that the strength of law-abiding relative to criminal identity plays a role in persisting in or desisting from criminal behavior. Yet, further research is necessary to identify the causal psychological mechanisms.

摘要

先前的研究表明，停止犯罪的过程伴随着从犯罪身份到守法身份的转变，以及守法行为自我效能的发展。利用自我报告措施和内隐关联测试，我们预测：a）相对于犯罪身份而言更强的守法以及对守法/犯罪行为更强/更弱的自我效能感将与 T1 和 b 时较低的精算累犯风险相关。 ）将解释两到三年后 T2 处的电阻变化。缓刑犯样本的结果 ( N = 325）在 T1 处很大程度上证实了横截面关联。单变量地，自我报告和基于潜伏期的守法相对于犯罪行为的测量身份解释了 T2 累犯（生存时间）的差异，而不是守法或犯罪行为的自我效能。从多变量角度来看，自我报告的相对于犯罪身份的守法行为解释了累犯之前生存时间的差异，超出了 T2 的精算累犯风险。进一步的分析表明，随着守法相对于犯罪身份的强度的增加，精算累犯风险越来越高估了重新犯罪的风险。研究结果表明，守法相对于犯罪身份的强度在坚持或停止犯罪行为中发挥着作用。然而，