Personality and moral reasoning in young offenders

Abstract This study examined personality, moral reasoning maturity, intellectual capacity, and family background in 101 convicted male young offenders. In addition, the relationship between these variables and self-reported offending behaviour was investigated. The main aim of the investigation was to test predictions from the theories of criminality proposed by Kohlberg [Kohlberg, L. (1958). The development of modes of moral thinking and choice in the years ten to sixteen . Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago. Kohlberg, L. (1963). The development of children’s orientations towards a moral order-I: sequence in the development of human thought. Vita Humana , 6, 11–33. Kolhberg, L. (1969). Stage and sequence: the cognitive-developmental approach to socialization. In D. Goslin, Handbook of socialization theory and research . New York: Rand McNally.] and H. J. Eysenck [Eysenck, H. J. (1964). Crime and personality . London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Eysenck, H. J. (1970). Crime and personality (2nd ed.). London: Granada. Eysenck, H. J. (1977). Crime and personality (3rd ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.] which associate offending behaviour with lower moral reasoning maturity and the personality characteristics of high psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism. The results suggested that both official and self-reported measures of offending were related to high psychoticism and extraversion. Neuroticism was not found to be important in predicting offending in the age group used, but may nonetheless be involved in older individuals when offending behaviour has developed into a habit. While lower levels of moral reasoning maturity were found, no relationship to self-reported offending was apparent. It was concluded that moral reasoning may be associated with offending through the mediation of other variables, possibly psychoticism and general reasoning ability.