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What do you think you're looking at? Investigating social cognition in young offenders
Author(s) -
Jones Alice P.,
Forster Alice S.,
Skuse David
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
criminal behaviour and mental health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1471-2857
pISSN - 0957-9664
DOI - 10.1002/cbm.641
Subject(s) - psychology , cognition , social cognition , gaze , developmental psychology , social competence , theory of mind , anger , borderline intellectual functioning , clinical psychology , social change , psychiatry , psychoanalysis , economics , economic growth
Aim This small study was designed to assess the nature and severity of social‐cognitive deficits in antisocial adolescents. Method Thirty‐seven boys aged 15–18 from a Young Offenders Institute and Community College participated. They were asked to complete a test of general intellectual ability and self‐rating of social competence as well as tasks from the Skuse Schedules for the Assessment of Social Intelligence. Results Young offenders were poor at recognizing the facial expression of anger, regardless of intellectual ability. They could not accurately identify the direction of another's eye gaze. Their performance on theory of mind tasks, however, was unimpaired. Conclusion These preliminary findings imply selective impairment in the cognitive appraisal of threat, which may contribute to social maladjustment. Further such study of social cognition among young offenders is indicated. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.