NCJ Number
232836
Journal
European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research Volume: 16 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2010 Pages: 237-250
Date Published
December 2010
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study examined the decision to re-offend in a sample of young offenders in Scotland.
Abstract
The present paper examines young offenders' decisions to re-offend, as a function of a breakdown of self-regulation, as represented by moral disengagement. There were 152 male inmates randomly selected from the largest young offender institution in Scotland and were asked to fill-in a moral disengagement scale and a questionnaire which assessed their cognitive representations. It was found that moral disengagement was neither related to frequency of offending nor age of initiation of delinquent behavior. Moral disengagement was significantly related to attitudes, perceived behavioral control and intentions to offend in the future. Moral disengagement contributed to the prediction of intentions when the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was operationalized through the direct measurement of the constructs of the model, although such did not contribute to the prediction of intentions when the constructs were operationalized by indirect, belief-based measurements of the constructs of the model. A model is proposed in terms of self-regulation of hierarchically organized feedback loops. Attitudes and perceived behavioral control are operating at the level of program control, as a function of disengagement of moral principles at the level of principles control. Tables and references (Published Abstract)