Credulous Approach to Violence and Homicide (From Personal Construct Perspectives on Forensic Psychology, P 15-53, 2003, James Horley, ed., -- See NCJ-213479)

• NCJ Number: 213480
• Author(s): David A. Winter
• Date Published: 2003
• Length: 39 pages
• Sale Source: Brunner-Routledge
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This chapter illustrates how personal construct theory can explain violent offending and the offender’s reaction to the offense, as well as provide a strategy for assessing and treating violent offenders.

Abstract

Personal construct theory urges those working with violent offenders to seek to understand the violence from the offender’s point of view. From this perspective, there are several pathways to violence, each of which involves the offender’s personal perspective and cognitions: (1) violence as an outcome of tight construing; (2) violence as slot rattling; (3) violence as absolution of guilt; (4) violence as shame avoidance; (5) violence as a dedicated act; (6) hostile violence; (7) aggressive violence; (8) violence and dilation; (9) violence as constriction; (10) violence as escape from chaos; (11) violence as a way of life; (12) violence as a shared construction; (13) violence as an outcome of deficient sociality; and (14) violence as foreshortening. Each pathway to violence is discussed in turn as the author illustrates how an offender’s personal, cognitive interpretations of the world and the people around them can lead to violent encounters. For example, in the section on violence as an outcome of tight construing, the author shows how people who are cognitively simple may be less able to anticipate and make sense of the behavior of others, possibly leading to violent behavior. The violent offender’s reaction to the offense is also presented from the personal construct theory perspective, which distinguishes an offender’s reaction in terms of whether they were reactive (unplanned) or instrumental (planned) offenders. Finally, the chapter turns to a discussion of how to go about the assessment and treatment of violent offenders from a personal construct perspective. The Life Events Repertory Grid technique is introduced as a method of understanding an offender’s construct systems, which are then used to guide treatment. Treatment protocols vary but generally focus on treating the offender’s reactions to the offense as a means of preventing further violence. Figures, references