General Risk and Need, Gender Specificity, and the Recidivism of Female Offenders

• NCJ Number: 229222
• Journal: Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 37 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2010 Pages: 29-46
• Author(s): L. Jill Rettinger; D. A. Andrews
• Date Published: January 2010
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study explored the predictive and incremental validities of variables deemed important to the understanding of female criminal behavior by two alternate perspectives: a gender-neutral perspective and a gender-specific perspective.

Abstract

The general and violent recidivism and number of new offenses of adult female offenders were predicted at levels well above chance by an assessment of the central eight risk factors proposed by the general personality and cognitive social learning (GPCSL) approach (antisocial cognition, past antisocial behavior, antisocial personality pattern, antisocial associates, substance abuse and procriminal rewards, dissatisfaction in the family and marital relationships, school, and work, and leisure). In addition, the predictive criterion validity of the central eight was evident in a multitude of contexts, including type of correctional setting, age, race, socioeconomic distress, single parenthood, traumatic life history, and a variety of emotional and social distress experiences. Assessments of the big four risk factors (criminal history, antisocial peers, antisocial cognition, and an antisocial pattern) accounted for a majority of the explained variance in recidivism. The women in this study reported high rates of stressed and distressing circumstances, but many of the factors posited as particularly relevant to the offending of females had no incremental predictive validity beyond the eight risk factors derived from a general personality and cognitive-social learning perspective of criminal behavior. In summation, the findings suggest that risk factors derived from a gender-neutral social cognitive theory of crime were relevant for adult females and that maybe gender-specific concerns might be best viewed as specific responsivity factors. Through a multivariate analysis, this study examined the predictive performance of social cognitive variables derived from a gender-neutral theory of criminal behavior in relation to several variables suggested as relevant by feminist perspectives. Tables and references