NCJ Number
212689
Journal
Criminal Behavior and Mental Health Volume: 15 Issue: 4 Dated: 2005 Pages: 273-283
Date Published
2005
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study analyzed the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) and its factor structure.
Abstract
Factor analysis is one avenue by which to assess the theoretical structure or construct validity of a psychological measure. The goal of factor analysis is to organize a larger set of variables into a manageable number of factors or latent constructs. This study performed tests on the factor structure of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) and determined the degree to which this factor structure generalized to divergent samples of male and female offenders not included in the original validation study. The study consisted of 2 samples: 1 sample consisted of 519 male inmates incarcerated in a medium security Federal prison and the second sample consisted of 227 female State and Federal prison inmates. Findings from the study indicated that a four-factor model achieved a significantly better fit in two separate samples of offenders than a one or two factor model in simulating the PICTS factor structure. The four-factor solution was conceived in the initial validation of the PICTS: problem avoidance, interpersonal hostility, self-assertion/deception, and denial of harm. Tables, references, appendix