Risk factors for the development of criminal thinking styles in women sentenced for violent crimes

Maria Mondry; Danuta Rode

Risk factors for the development of criminal thinking styles in women sentenced for violent crimes

Data publikacji: 24.06.2026

Problems of Forensic Sciences (Z Zagadnień Nauk Sądowych), 2025, 144, s. 277-300

https://doi.org/10.4467/12307483PFS.25.014.23649

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Tytuły

Risk factors for the development of criminal thinking styles in women sentenced for violent crimes

Abstrakt

The primary aim of the present study was to identify risk factors for criminal thinking styles among women convicted of violent offences. Criminal thinking styles are conceptualised as the cognitive content and processes that initiate and sustain criminal activity by repudiating personal responsibility and employing rationalisations and cognitive distortions. Potential risk factors were selected on the basis of prior literature and grouped into biological, psychological, environmental, sociodemographic, and penitentiary categories. Statistical analyses yielded significant predictors for six of the eight criminal thinking styles. These predictors were: low occupational activity, a high level of the temperamental trait of endurance, elevated personal distress, and elevated fantasy as components of empathy, as well as a high level of secure and a low level of avoidant attachment style. The findings offer practical implications, including the importance of vocational activation for incarcerated women, recommendations for empathy-skills training, and the introduction of criminal-thinking assessment tools as a cyclical method for evaluating the effectiveness of rehabilitative interventions and estimating recidivism risk.

Słowa kluczowe

Criminal thinking styles, Risk factors, Violence, Female offending

Bibliografia

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