The relationship between intellectual ability and the treatment needs of offenders in a therapeutic community prison

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between intellectual ability (IA) and the treatment needs of male offenders in a therapeutic community prison. A sample of 1627 offenders with varying levels of IA as measured using the Raven's Progressive Matrices (RPM; Raven, 1958 Raven, J. 1958. Standard progressive matrices, London: Lewis and Co. [Google Scholar] ) were compared on psychometric measures assessing offence-related treatment needs. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed that offenders with a lower level of IA had significantly higher scores on particular scales of the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire (HDHQ; Caine, Foulds, & Hope, 1967 Caine, T., Foulds, G. and Hope, K. 1967. Manual of the Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire (HDHQ), London: University of London Press. [Google Scholar] ), the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS; Walters, 1995 Walters, G. 1995. The psychological inventory of criminal thinking styles. Part I: Reliability and preliminary validity. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 22: 307–325. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar] ) and the Blame Attribution Inventory (BAI; Gudjonsson, 1984 Gudjonsson, G. 1984. Attribution of blame for criminal acts and its relationship with personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 5: 53–58. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar] ), and a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) found that these differences persisted even after controlling for social desirability. Findings suggest that offenders with a lower level of IA may require adapted treatment interventions that target differences in treatment need.

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ORCID for Michelle Newberry: orcid.org/0000-0003-0085-3751

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