NCJ Number
202686
Journal
Legal and Criminological Psychology Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: September 2003 Pages: 175-187
Date Published
September 2003
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study examined the applicability and utility of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) with English prisoners and considered the implications of the findings for practice.
Abstract
The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) was designed to measure the thinking patterns that are believed to be associated with a criminal lifestyle. This study considered the use of PICTS with an English prison population. PICTS scores were collected by a team of 6 psychologists from 255 male offenders, from 6 penal institutions in England, housing a range of types of prisoners with a mean age of 30.38 years. The reliability and validity of the PICTS scales were investigated and scores compared with data from an American prison population. The results support the use of the PICTS within English prisons. The PICTS was functioning in a similar way in both populations. The analysis over time suggests that even when the effect of age was controlled for, changes were occurring over the duration of the sentence. To advance the knowledge of the potential utility of the PICTS, future research should examine in more detail how the scales function for different types of offenders and examine and compare the predictive validity of the PICTS with English prisoners. Tables and references