The social cognition of violent offenders

Abstract

Purpose

Social cognition is a prominent feature of explanations of crime, particularly violent crime. This paper aims to report a study that compared several aspects of the social cognition of convicted violent and non‐violent offenders.

Design/methodology/approach

Measures of social cognition were administered to 156 offenders, classified as violent and non‐violent according to index offence.

Findings

Analysis showed few significant differences between the violent and non‐violent offenders, although differences in thinking styles and social problem solving strategies were evident between high‐risk and low‐risk violent offenders.

Originality/value

The differences between high‐risk and lower risk violent offenders suggests that not all violent offenders function at the same level and so more precision is required in classifying offenders.

Citation

Gauci, A. and Hollin, C.R. (2012), "The social cognition of violent offenders", Journal of Criminal Psychology, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 121-126. https://doi.org/10.1108/20093821211264432