Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Feb;31(1):44-48.
doi: 10.1002/cbm.2177. Epub 2020 Nov 16.

Alexithymia in nonviolent offenders

Cate L Parry  1 , David A Preece  2 , Maria M Allan  1 , Alfred Allan  1
Affiliations

Alexithymia in nonviolent offenders

Cate L Parry et al. Crim Behav Ment Health. 2021 Feb.

Abstract

Background: Alexithymia is a trait involving difficulties processing emotions. Existing data suggest it is associated with violent offending. In violent offender programmes, therefore, violent offenders are screened for alexithymia and it is attended to if necessary. No studies have, however, examined alexithymia levels in nonviolent offenders and it is, therefore, unknown whether it is also a criminogenic factor in this population.

Aims: To investigate alexithymia levels among incarcerated nonviolent offenders and compare them with a community comparison group.

Method: The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale was used to compare the alexithymia levels of 67 incarcerated nonviolent offenders with a group of 139 people from the general public living in the community.

Results: Alexithymia levels did not differ between the groups.

Conclusion: It appears that alexithymia is not a criminogenic factor for nonviolent offenders and screening of such offenders appears unnecessary.

Keywords: alexithymia; emotion processing; nonviolent crime; nonviolent offending.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Bagby, R. M., Parker, J. D., & Taylor, G. J. (1994). The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale-I. Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 38, 23-32.
    1. Christopher, G., & McMurran, M. (2009). Alexithymia, empathic concern, goal management, and social problem solving in adult male prisoners. Psychology, Crime and Law, 15(8), 697-709.
    1. Day, A. (2009). Offender emotion and self-regulation: Implications for offender rehabilitation programming. Psychology, Crime and Law, 15, 119-130.
    1. Eckhardt, C., Jamison, T. R., & Watts, K. (2002). Anger experience and expression among male dating violence perpetrators during anger arousal. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 17, 1102-1114.
    1. Garofalo, C., Velotti, P., & Zavattini, G. C. (2018). Emotion regulation and aggression: The incremental contribution of alexithymia, impulsivity, and emotion dysregulation facets. Psychology of Violence, 8, 470-483.

LinkOut - more resources