Abstract

Inmate misconduct threatens two critically important functions of prison life: offender rehabilitation and facility safety. While many offender change programs focus on empathy development as a tool for reducing inmate misconduct, few studies elucidate how an inmate’s communication competence plays a role in the empathy-misconduct relationship. Drawing upon the Risk-Needs-Responsivity (RNR) framework, we conduct a multi-site investigation of prisons in a US state to assess the association between inmates’ self-assessed levels of interpersonal communication competence (ICC) and the incidence of inmate misconduct, net of controls and demographics. Results reveal higher levels of interpersonal communication competence are related to fewer major behavioral infractions but have no observed relationship with minor infractions while incarcerated. Empathy measures had no effect on either type of infraction. Theory and policy implications of our findings for correctional practice are discussed.

摘要

囚犯的不当行为威胁到监狱生活的两个至关重要的功能：罪犯改造和设施安全。虽然许多罪犯改变计划将同理心培养作为减少犯人不当行为的工具，但很少有研究阐明犯人的沟通能力如何在同理心-不当行为关系中发挥作用。利用风险-需求-响应 (RNR) 框架，我们对美国某州的监狱进行了多地点调查，以评估囚犯自我评估的人际沟通能力 (ICC) 水平与囚犯不当行为发生率之间的关系，扣除控制和人口统计数据。结果显示，较高水平的人际沟通能力与较少的主要行为违规有关，但在监禁期间未观察到与轻微违规的关系。移情措施对任何一种违规行为都没有影响。讨论了我们的研究结果对矫正实践的理论和政策影响。