Levels of Attribution and Change in a High-Security Correctional Population

• NCJ Number: 207624
• Journal: Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 39 Issue: 2 Dated: 2004 Pages: 1-17
• Author(s): Philip R. Magaletta; Kevin L. Jackson; Nancy A. Miller; Christopher A. Innes
• Editor(s): Nathaniel J. Pallone Ph.D.
• Date Published: 2004
• Length: 17 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This research tested the psychometric properties of the Levels of Attribution and Change (LAC) scale using a segment of a high-security Federal correctional population.

Abstract

The LAC, as designed for this study, measures 10 self-reported causal attributions of one’s imprisonment. Participants for this study were 104 male offenders housed at a northeastern Federal penitentiary who began at least the first phase of the Challenge, Opportunity, Discipline, and Ethics (CODE) program. The four-phase, 9-month program was implemented to encourage institutional adjustment among high-security Federal offenders. The LAC data were collected as part of an extensive pretreatment questionnaire packet completed by the participants entering the CODE program. Univariate statistics and bivariate correlations were generated for LAC subcomponents, and criminal thinking, psychological functioning, and treatment motivation criterion measures. The analyses found that, consistent with earlier reports, the 10 subscales within the LAC have very good internal consistency, many of the intercomponent correlations are significantly large, and all of the coefficients are positive. These findings suggest that, as a self-report measure of problem attributions for offenders, the LAC is both reliable and valid. Most LAC subscales showed high internal consistency and held relationships in the appropriate direction with the various criterion measures. The study found that offender attributions or explanations about the causes of their imprisonment were represented by two dimensions, one predominantly external and the other predominantly internal. A more complex LAC attribution set is associated with measures of treatment motivation and criminal thinking style. Due to the limited sample size, future research is needed to replicate this study across more security levels and gender, and with a much larger sample size. References and 4 tables