NCJ Number
91449
Editor(s)
W S Laufer,
J M Day
Date Published
1983
Length
498 pages
Annotation
A series of papers discusses theory, application, empirical analysis, and policy-relevant views of moral development and criminal behavior, along with the future direction of personality and moral-development research.
Abstract
The first major section contains papers on significant issues in the personality-criminality relationship from varied theoretical perspectives. Issues considered deal with the existence of a distinct personality associated with antisocial behavior, the relationship between personality and moral development in delinquent behavior, and the degree to which personality shapes antisocial (compared with prosocial) behavior. Part II focuses on issues of moral development and criminal behavior. This section is principally concerned with the implications of cognitive-developmental theory for understanding criminal behavior from both theoretical and practical perspectives. One paper addresses the potential uses of cognitive-developmental theory for designing and administering restitution programs. Another study presents a critical analysis of moral-development theory that draws some alternatives to the views of Kohlberg. Other papers explore the relations among personality, moral development, and psychopathy; adolescent reasoning; and techniques of neutralization. Part II presents three statements on the future direction of personality and moral-development research. These chapters make apparent how much more sophisticated work is required to fill gaps in knowledge about the psychological dynamics of criminal behavior. Chapter references and relevant tabular data are provided. For individual documents, see NCJ 91450-66.