NCJ Number
113908
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 32 Issue: 2 Dated: (September 1988) Pages: 95-106
Date Published
1988
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Both prisonization and recidivism have been studied as if they were effects of external, generally social, influences acting on the offender.
Abstract
It is unlikely that satisfyingly comprehensive explanations for these phenomena can be achieved without considering internal motivational states of the antisocial personalities involved. Based on observations made in psychotherapy, this article presents unconscious motivations common to chronic offenders. Specifically, the article describes a primary psychological defense of antisocial personalities which 'splits' perception of social reality into two components, one affectionate and one aggressive. Penitentiary operations inadvertently validate this pathological perspective. The article suggests that the uniquely supportive matching of the penitentiary environment with pathological aspects of the antisocial personality provides an unconscious, characterological appeal to many inmates, promoting expression of rebellious 'prisonized' attitudes and increasing the chance of recidivism. (Author abstract)