The utility of adult offenders' relational schema for predicting antisocial behavior and re-incarceration.

摘要

Recent debate has centered on the relation, or lack thereof, between global self-esteem and various antisocial outcomes (Baumeister et al., 1996; Donnellan et al., 2005). However, advances in developmental and social psychological research suggest that social behavior is guided by dynamic cognitive models of the self-in-interaction-with-others, or relational schema (Andersen & Chen, 2001). The current study extended the concept of relational schema as an aid in predicting various antisocial outcomes among a large sample of male and female adult offenders (N = 601). Outcome variables included self-reported involvement in violent and nonviolent crime, as well as general re-incarceration at 3-year follow-up. Results indicated that offenders' views of others significantly moderated the relations between self-esteem and self-reported involvement in nonviolent crime and general re-incarceration across the 3-year study period. Additionally, important gender differences were noted among the relational schema of male and female recidivists. The results are discussed in terms of the potential significance that assessments of relational schema may hold in informing offender risk and in developing more appropriate and effective interventions for at-risk offenders.