Moral Development and Recidivism A Meta-Analysis

• NCJ Number: 237220
• Journal: International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparartive Criminology Volume: 55 Issue: 8 Dated: December 2011 Pages: 1234-1250
• Author(s): Eveline Van Vugt; John Gibbs; Geert Jan Stams; Catrien Bijleveld; Jan Hendriks; Peter van der Laan
• Date Published: December 2011
• Length: 17 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the relation between moral development and criminal offense recidivism.

Abstract

A meta-analysis of 19 studies (N = 15,992 offenders) showed a significant inverse relation between more mature moral development and recidivism. Moderator analyses revealed a larger effect size for moral cognition (r = .20) than for moral emotion (r = .11). Effect sizes for production measures (r = .57) were much larger than for recognition measures (r = .16) and unstructured (clinical) judgment (r = .10). Larger effect sizes were found for female delinquents (r = .32) than for male delinquents (r = .21). Only small differences in effect sizes were found between juvenile delinquents (r = .10) and adult delinquents (r = .16). Finally, self-report measures of recidivism revealed much larger effect sizes (r = .32) than official reports of recidivism (r = .09). The discussion focuses on the theoretical and practical meaning of the magnitude of the effect size for the relation between moral development and recidivism. (Published Abstract)