Belief about immutability of moral character and punitiveness toward criminal offenders

The present research examined the association between belief about immutability of moral character and punitiveness toward criminal offenders. Overall, participants who believed that moral character is immutable (entity theorists) were more punitive than those who believed that it is changeable (incremental theorists). More important, the present research identified two mediational paths: Entity theorists made more internal attribution of criminal behavior and held stronger expectation of offenders' recidivism, both of which in turn led to stronger punitiveness. Also, contrary to some researchers' speculation, entity theorists did not perceive less controllability in criminal behavior. Implications for implicit theory research and criminal justice research are discussed.     

Lessons From Pair Counseling With Incarcerated Juvenile Delinquents

Pair counseling was used with incarcerated juvenile offenders with emotional problems to examine its effectiveness in increasing moral reasoning, improving interpersonal relationships, and reducing recidivism. Qualitative results presented in case studies provided support for improvement in peer relationships.     

An Evidence‐Based Approach to Reducing Recidivism in Court‐Referred Youth

The authors obtained recidivism data on a predominantly Latino/a sample of juvenile offenders within a 24‐month period following their participation in a community‐based psychoeducational counseling program emphasizing life skills development. The treatment group was compared with a sample of youth derived from the same database who had participated in community probationary programs. Youth in the treatment group had statistically significant less recidivism in a 24‐month period subsequent to completing the program than did youth in the control group.     

Moral reasoning, executive function, and personality in violent and nonviolent adult offenders

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 ords. 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.     

道德相对主义和厌恶情绪对道德直觉判断的影响

社会直觉模型认为有意识的道德推理过程发生在道德直觉判断之后。那么, 道德直觉判断又是怎么形成的, 是否受认知推理和情绪的影响?实验1首先验证道德直觉判断的存在; 实验2考察了道德相对主义对道德直觉判断的影响; 实验3考察了厌恶情绪对道德直觉判断的影响。结果发现: (1)道德绝对主义比道德相对主义条件下, 个体更倾向于做出道德直觉判断, 说明道德直觉判断受认知推理影响。(2)厌恶情绪比中立情绪启动条件下, 个体更倾向于做出道德直觉判断, 说明道德直觉判断受情绪影响。因此, 道德直觉判断会受认知推理和情绪的影响。     

Beliefs in moral luck: When and why blame hinges on luck

Belief in moral luck is represented in judgements that offenders should be held accountable for intent to cause harm as well as whether or not harm occurred. Scores on a measure of moral luck beliefs predicted judgements of offenders who varied in intent and the outcomes of their actions, although judgements overall were not consistent with abstract beliefs in moral luck. Prompting participants to consider alternative outcomes, particularly worse outcomes, reduced moral luck beliefs. Findings suggest that some people believe that offenders should be punished based on the outcome of their actions. Furthermore, prompting counterfactuals decreased judgements consistent with moral luck beliefs. The results have implications for theories of moral judgement as well as legal decision making.     

Hypnotic age regression and moral reasoning

Moral reasoning was assessed with two dilemmas from the Kohlberg Moral Judgment Interview (1976) in 7 adults who were hypnotically age regressed to four ages: 15, 12, 9, and 6 years. Seven adults in a control group under task-motivation instructions were age regressed to the same ages and administered the dilemmas. Age-regressed moral maturity scores for both groups were compared to pretest scores, to data for actual 15-, 12-, 9-, and 6-year-olds from other studies, and to each other. Both groups were able to lower their moral reasoning scores when given age-regression instructions; however, hypnosis subjects not only scored lower than task-motivation subjects but also more closely resembled the levels of reasoning used by children at these ages. The results provide some support for a distinction between age regression through hypnosis and age regression through task-motivation instructions.     

Aggressive and prosocial children's emotion attributions and moral reasoning

Aggressive and prosocial children's emotion attributions and moral reasoning were investigated. Participants were 235 kindergarten children (M=6.2 years) and 136 elementary-school children (M=7.6 years) who were selected as aggressive or prosocial based on (kindergarten) teacher ratings. The children were asked to evaluate hypothetical rule violations, attribute emotions they would feel in the role of the victimizer, and justify their responses. Compared with younger prosocial children, younger aggressive children attributed fewer negative emotions and were more likely to provide sanction-oriented justifications when evaluating rule violations negatively. Furthermore, age-, gender- and context-effects in moral development occurred. The context-effects included both effects of transgression type (i.e., prosocial morality vs. fairness) on emotion attributions and moral reasoning and the effects of the context of moral evaluation and emotion attribution on moral reasoning. Findings are discussed in terms of the role of emotion attributions and moral reasoning as antecedents of children's aggressive and prosocial behavior.     

A comparison of moral reasoning and moral character in male and female incarcerated felons

Gender differences among incarcerated adult felons along dimensions of moral reasoning and moral character were examined. Previous work was extended by comparing adult male and female felons, and by exploring the relationship between moral reasoning and moral character. Subjects completed the Socio-moral Reflection Questionnaire, which measures moral reasoning. Moral character was assessed by a socialization scale, two empathy measures, and two autonomy questionnaires. Discriminant function analysis revealed that men were higher than women on moral reasoning, lower on socialization, higher on role-taking empathy, lower on emotional empathy, and more internal in locus of control. Moral reasoning was correlated with role-taking empathy and locus of control. Implications for theories of gender differences in moral reasoning and criminality were discussed.     

Moral reasoning and emphasis on different kinds of moral content

A test designed to differentiate between conventional and postconventional moral reasoning was completed by 56 university students, who also rated positive and negative items in four general moral content areas. Postconventionality was related to relatively greater stress on social and especially on international moral content. Overall and within-area differences were discussed with reference to the structural characteristics of each type of moral orientation, especially the consequences of the postconventional capacity to apply ideal role-taking in moral reasoning.     

Sexual experience, sex guilt, and sexual moral reasoning

Two studies are described in which the relations between sexual experience, sex guilt, and sexual moral reasoning were examined. Subjects were asked to articulate their opinions on each of six sexual activities, and then choose one of six statements (corresponding to Kohlberg's six stages of reasoning) that most clearly reflected why they had, or had not, engaged in three of those activities. An analysis of the moral reasoning present in each of the six articulated responses indicated that level of reasoning was inversely related to sex guilt. Analysis of the preference data indicated that subjects endorsed reasoning (statements) at a higher stage than they had articulated, and that this “gap” between articulation and preference was much greater for less experienced subjects. Results are discussed in terms of the utility of using situation-specific moral dilemmas when assessing moral reasoning, and in terms of the possible role that lack of sexual experience plays in inhibiting sexual moral development.     

Cognitive processing of moral and social judgements: A comparison of offenders,students, and control participants

Examining cognitive processes related to offenders’ moral and social judgements is important in order to better understand their criminal behaviour. In the present study, 30 offenders, 30 students, and 24 control participants were administered the moral-conventional judgements computer task, which requires responding under strict time constraints. Participants read scenarios and were asked to judge whether the act was acceptable or unacceptable when rules were either assumed or removed. Additionally, participants completed an executive function (EF) task in order to examine the relation between EF and moral and social judgements. The findings revealed that, as expected, controls and students had faster reaction times (RTs) and a higher percentage of normative judgements than offenders. Additionally, offenders had a low percentage of normative judgements, particularly in the conventional rule removed condition. Finally, RTs of moral and conventional judgements in most conditions were related to EF among students but not controls or offenders. We conclude that offenders, as compared to controls and students, may rely more on rule-oriented responding and may rely less on EF when making moral and social judgements.     

Financial deprivation selectively shifts moral standards and compromises moral decisions

Previous research suggests people firmly value moral standards. However, research has also shown that various factors can compromise moral behavior. Inspired by the recent financial turmoil, we investigate whether financial deprivation might shift people’s moral standards and consequently compromise their moral decisions. Across one pilot survey and five experiments, we find that people believe financial deprivation should not excuse immoral conduct; yet when people actually experience deprivation they seem to apply their moral standards more leniently. Thus, people who feel deprived tend to cheat more for financial gains and judge deprived moral offenders who cheat for financial gains less harshly. These effects are mediated by shifts in people’s moral standards: beliefs in whether deprivation is an acceptable reason for immorality. The effect of deprivation on immoral conduct diminishes when it is explicit that immoral conduct cannot help alleviate imbalances in deprived actors’ financial states, when financial deprivation seems fair or deserved, and when acting immorally seems unfair.     

Post-conventional moral reasoning and reputation

Kohlberg’s theory of moral development conceives conventional and post-conventional moral reasoning as consecutive levels in a developmental sequence. This claim was examined in terms of the relationship between preference for these two styles of reasoning on the one hand and moral identity as perceived by others (reputation) and as self-perceived and on the other. Participants (n = 172), in groups of four mutual acquaintances, provided ratings of one another’s standing, and estimates of their own standing and reputation, on four trait dimensions (moral responsibility, consideration for others, respect for authority, and political orientation). Post-conventional moral reasoning, assessed using the Defining Issues Test, was not significantly related either to reputation or to self-rating on any dimension except political orientation. Conventional reasoning was related to politics though in the opposite direction, but additionally to both self- and other-ratings of moral responsibility and to the corresponding ratings of respect for authority. Findings do not support the view that the conventional/post-conventional distinction in moral reasoning is a developmental difference. An alternative proposed is that these are independent domains of moral thought, related to quite different aspects of social behaviour and political attitudes.     

Differences in the justification of choices in moral dilemmas: effects of gender, time pressure and dilemma seriousness

The effects on moral reasoning of gender, time pressure and seriousness of the issue at hand were investigated. In Experiment 1, 72 university students were presented with moral dilemmas and asked what actions the actors involved should take and to justify this. Women were found to be more care-oriented in their reasoning than men, supporting Gilligan's moral judgment model. Both time pressure and consideration of non-serious as opposed to serious moral dilemmas led to an increase in a justice orientation compared with a care orientation in moral judgments. In Experiment 2, a similar task was given to 80 persons of mixed age and profession, and the participants' moral reasoning was coded in terms of its being either duty-orientated (duty, obligations, rights) or consequence-oriented (effects on others). Men were found to be more duty-oriented than women, and time pressure to lead to a greater incidence of duty orientation.     

Reflection and reasoning in moral judgment

While there is much evidence for the influence of automatic emotional responses on moral judgment, the roles of reflection and reasoning remain uncertain. In Experiment 1, we induced subjects to be more reflective by completing the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) prior to responding to moral dilemmas. This manipulation increased utilitarian responding, as individuals who reflected more on the CRT made more utilitarian judgments. A follow-up study suggested that trait reflectiveness is also associated with increased utilitarian judgment. In Experiment 2, subjects considered a scenario involving incest between consenting adult siblings, a scenario known for eliciting emotionally driven condemnation that resists reasoned persuasion. Here, we manipulated two factors related to moral reasoning: argument strength and deliberation time. These factors interacted in a manner consistent with moral reasoning: A strong argument defending the incestuous behavior was more persuasive than a weak argument, but only when increased deliberation time encouraged subjects to reflect.     

Associations Between Sport Participation,Goal and Sportspersonship Orientations,and Moral Reasoning

This study examined associations between level of sport participation, goal and sportspersonship orientations, and moral reasoning in sport and nonsport situations and orientation by sport participation interactions. Participants were individuals with elite (n = 176), high school (n = 183), and youth sport (n = 78) participation. When judging sport situations, individuals who participated in elite sports demonstrated poorer moral reasoning than those who participated in high school and youth sports. At low levels of sportspersonship, individuals who participated in youth sports demonstrated higher moral reasoning than those who participated in high school and elite sports. When judging nonsport situations, moral reasoning was positively related to positive sportspersonship and negatively related to ego orientation but did not differ by sport participation. Within sport, sport participation and goal and sportspersonship orientations play a critical role in moral reasoning. However, these orientations may be more important than sport participation in moral reasoning beyond the sport context.     

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

The aims of this study were to examine: (a) whether men with intellectual disabilities who have a history of criminal offending attend to affective pictorial stimuli in a biased manner, and (b) whether there is a relationship between an affective attentional bias and offense‐supportive cognitions, empathy, and moral reasoning. Forty‐six men with intellectual disabilities who had a documented history of criminal offending, and 51 men who also had intellectual disabilities, but no such history, were recruited and asked to complete a computer‐based dot‐probe task using affective pictorial stimuli with randomization, along with measures of distorted cognitions, empathy, and moral reasoning. Those with a history of criminal offending endorsed significantly more offense‐supportive cognitions, had significantly lower general empathy, and more “mature” moral reasoning, as well as a significant attentional bias toward affective pictorial stimuli. Attentional bias significantly predicted offense‐supportive cognitions, and vice versa, having controlled for offense history, and Full‐Scale IQ, but this was not the case for empathy or moral reasoning. While the findings require replication, interventions that aim to modify attention bias with this population should be tested.     

Motivational antecedents to maturity of moral judgment

This study was undertaken to examine the independent influences of conative development (the Maslow needs hierarchy) upon aspects of prosocial orientations. It was designed to establish the role of conative development in moral reasoning among high school men at two age levels (sophomores and seniors), controlling for cognitive skills and social role-taking opportunities. As such, it attempts to break new ground in relating motivational constructs to the moral development literature. Conative maturity was found to be a necessary antecedent to attainment of higher level moral reasoning among high school men. Fixation and consolidation of moral reasoning was evidenced in connection with conative fixation among high school seniors. Results are discussed in terms of implications of conative growth for development of prosocial orientations in general and moral reasoning strategies in particular.Ordering of authors names was determined by random procedure and is not indicative of disproportionate contributions to the overall research.     

Sexually Violent Predators: Toward Reasonable Estimates of Recidivism Base Rates

The sexual recidivism rate of sex offenders is a controversial issue. Perhaps as controversial is the sexual recidivism rate of the select group of sex offenders who are examined pursuant to sexually violent predator (SVP) statutes. At present, reliable estimates of SVP recidivism are unavailable. We propose that reasonable estimates of SVP recidivism can be reached by considering three available pieces of data: (i) a likely recidivism rate of the general population of sex offenders; (ii) procedures typically followed by jurisdictions that civilly commit sex offenders; and (iii) classification accuracy of procedures. Although sexual recidivism rates vary across jurisdictions, the results of our analyses suggest sex offenders referred for examination pursuant to SVP statutes recidivate at substantially higher rates than typical sex offenders. Our results further suggest that sex offenders recommended for commitment as SVPs recidivate at even greater rates than SVP respondents who are not recommended for commitment. We discuss practice and policy implications of these findings. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.