Selected Criminal Thinking Conceptions in Offenders

Criminal thinking or attitudes constitute a concept that has received considerable research attention in foreign countries especially because of its proven relationship to antisocial behavior and potential for changing it through elimination of these attitudes (e.g. Blud et al., 2003; Henning & Frueh, 1996; Walters, 2005c). Nevertheless criminal thinking still remains almost undescribed in the Czech Republic. The present work is investigating criminal thinking on a sample of 202 offenders currently imprisoned for robbery or burglary. The primary method used was the Czech version of American self-report inventory titled "Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles". The Czech version was developed in the Institute of Criminology and Social Prevention (Blatníková, Faridová, & Zeman, manuscript in preparation). This thesis was implemented under auspices of the Institute. The data suggest specifically highlighted sentimental style of thinking in our research sample. Positive correlation between intensity of criminal thinking and serious criminal history was demonstrated as well as the decline of intensity with increasing age and educational attainment. The strengths and weaknesses of our research, experiences with method, its possible applications and numerous suggestions for follow-up..