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International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology
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Prisonization and Recidivism: A Psychological Perspective

Paul Hofer

United States Penitentiary, 3901 Klein Blvd., Lompoc, California 93436, U.S.A.

Both prisonization and recidivism have been studied as if they were effects of external, generally social, influences acting on the offender. It is unlikely that satisfyingly comprehensive explanations for these phenomena can be achieved without considering internal motivational states of the antisocial personalities involved. Based on observations made in psychotherapy, this article presents unconscious motivations common to chronic offenders. Specifically, the article describes a primary psychological defense of antisocial personalities which "splits" perception of social reality into two components, one affectionate and one aggressive. Penitentiary operations inadvertently validate this pathological perspective. The article suggests that the uniquely supportive matching of the penitentiary environment with pathological aspects of the antisocial personality provides an unconscious, characterological appeal to many inmates, promoting expression of rebellious "prisonized" attitudes and increasing the chance of recidivism.

International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Vol. 32, No. 2, 95-106 (1988)
DOI: 10.1177/0306624X8803200203
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Home page
 Int J Offender Ther Comp CriminolHome page
P. Hofer
The Role of Manipulation in the Antisocial Personality
Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol, September 1, 1989; 33(2): 91 - 101.
[Abstract]