The social cognition of violent offenders

摘要

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.