A fundamental attribution error? Rethinking cognitive distortions.

Shadd Maruna (Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK) and Ruth E. Mann (HM Prison Service, London, UK) The British Psychological Society (2006)

A propos de la notion de distorsion cognitive chez les criminels: ne pas reconnaître les faits est-il prédicteur de la récidive? La « reconnaissance des faits » est-il un phénomène d’adaptation avant l’expression d’un « remord »? Enfin, les buts thérapeutiques doivent-ils être révisés en conséquences des résultats des travaux menés sur le sujet? 

The notion of ‘cognitive distortion’ has become enshrined in the offender treatment literature over the last 20 years, yet the concept still suffers from a lack of definitional clarity. In particular, the umbrella term is often used to refer to offence-supportive attitudes, cognitive processing during an offence sequence, as well as post-hoc neutralisations or excuses for offending. Of these very different processes, the last one might be the most popular and problematic. Treatment programmes for offenders often aim to eliminate excuse-making as a primary aim, and decision-makers place great weight on the degree to which an offender “takes responsibility” for his or her offending. Yet, the relationship between these after-the-fact explanations and future crime is not at all clear. Indeed, the designation of post hoc excuses as criminogenic may itself be an example of fallacious thinking. After all, outside of the criminal context, post hoc excuse-making is widely viewed as normal, healthy, and socially rewarded behaviour. We argue that the open exploration of contextual risk factors leading to offending can help in the identification of criminogenic factors as well as strengthen the therapeutic experience. Rather than insist that offenders take “responsibility” for the past, we suggest that efforts should focus on helping them take responsibility for the future, shifting the therapeutic focus from post hoc excuses to offence-supportive attitudes and underlying cognitive schemas that are empirically linked to re-offending.

Maruna___Mann__A_fundamental_attributi.pdf