NCJ Number
226957
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 36 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2009 Pages: 259-274
Date Published
March 2009
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study applied a person-centered approach based on the five-factor model of personality to organize personality data of criminal offenders and examined psychological difference between resulting prototypes.
Abstract
The findings derived from two independent samples, confirm the hypothesis that offenders were not a dangerous group in terms of personality and that an established person-centered approach grounded on the five-factor model (FFM) could successfully be applied to criminal offenders. The findings extend previous research that had demonstrated significant differences in personality between criminals and noncriminals but in addition revealed that remarkable differences in personality could also exist within the criminal population. The FFM is a major personality theory which assumes that the surface of personality can be described with five dimensions: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The FFM framework has been used in several studies investigating the link between delinquency and personality. These studies using the person-center approach were based on samples of children and healthy, noncriminal adults. The purpose of this study was to contribute to the evidence that the person-centered approach allows for the identification of types that are conceptually wealthier for describing and treating offenders than were isolated traits. The study sought at investigating (1) whether the five personality prototypes in two different samples of offenders based on self-reported FFM personality traits could be replicated and (2) whether associations between the five personality prototypes and clinical and behavioral features germane to description as well as treatment of offenders could be found. Figure, tables, notes, and references