Criminal Thinking on Probation

Abstract

This article examines the use of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) with a sample of 72 Irish men on probation. It tests the hypothesis that probationers who reported no offending for at least a year (secondary desisters) would have lower PICTS scores—indicating a less active criminal belief system—than those who remained involved in crime and that probationers who did not report committing crime during the past month (primary desisters) would have lower scores than those who did. Significant differences ( p < .05) were observed on three of the eight scales and on Current Criminal Thinking for the secondary desisters and on six of the eight scales for the primary desisters. Compared with English and American prisoners, the Irish scored higher on all eight scales.