INFAD (Jul 2015)

Psychosocial characteristics and behavioral standards associated with recent

  • Ana Moisão,
  • Sonia Brito-Costa,
  • Pedro Bem-Haja,
  • Afonso Alberty,
  • Mª Isabel Ruiz Fernández,
  • Hugo de Almeida

DOI
https://doi.org/10.17060/ijodaep.2015.n2.v1.327
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 1, no. 2
pp. 105 – 114

Abstract

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The purpose of this study was to explore differences in criminal recidivism based on both psychosocial and individual characteristics, and to verify whether repeat offenders are more involved in behavioral patterns associated with criminal lifestyle, making recidivism more likely than primary inmates. Exclusion criteria were crimes associated with drug trafficking and consumption, in order to ensure that crimes are committed by behavioral patterns associated with a criminal life style without compulsion to crime for substance dependence. The sample consisted of 120 male inmates, half of them recidivists and half primary, aged between 19 and 71 years of age. In the data collection, the Lyfestyle Criminality Screening Form - Revised instrument was used to evaluate and identify criminal life styles and a questionnaire with socio-demographic and legal-penal information. The results revealed that there is a direct relationship between criminal lifestyle and recidivism in crime. These results provide evidence to be taken into account in the creation of specific intervention programs for social inclusion and prevention of recidivism.

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