Harnessing self-control in inmates: Self-control strength theory and the reduction of deviance and recidivism

利用囚犯的自我控制：自我控制强度理论与减少越轨行为和累犯

• 批准号: 1261083
• 负责人: Markus Kemmelmeier
• 金额: $ 35.41万
• 依托单位: Board of Regents, NSHE, obo University of Nevada, Reno
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-08-01 至 2018-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1261083&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Harnessing; self; control; inmates; Self

Research in criminology has identified a lack of self-control or "willpower" as one of the reasons as to why people commit crimes. Individuals are often unable to resist the short-term gratification that many criminal acts promise. Many criminologists assume that much of an individual's capacity to exercise self-control is learned early in childhood. Once established, many criminologists consider an individual's capacity for self-control largely unchangeable during adulthood. Recent research in social psychology, however, has found an individual's capacity for self-control to be much more dynamic and variable. Often, self-control functions like a "muscle": it is a limited resource that can be temporarily exhausted through heavy use, but it is strengthened through repeated use. Social psychologists have demonstrated that individuals' capacity for self-control can be enhanced through a relatively simple training. So-trained individuals are better able to resist aggressive and selfish impulses, and make more socially acceptable decisions. This project applies these insights to the U.S. criminal justice system. Many former prison inmates (40-50%) re-offend or violate their parole, and are returned to prison. This contributes to the U.S. having the largest prison population in the world, which comes at great cost to the U.S. economy as well as federal and state budgets, and many socially disadvantaged communities. If recidivism rates can be reduced with a self-control training program that is simple and cheap, there might be large economic and social benefits.In this experimental study, soon-to-be released prison inmates (volunteers) are randomly assigned to a self-control training condition or a control condition while still in prison (Phase I). Shortly after their release, half of the former inmates are again randomly assigned to a self-control training whereas the other half are assigned to a control condition (Phase II). This results in a 2 (Pre-release/Phase I: Self-control training vs. control) x 2 (Post-release/Phase II: Self-control training vs. control) factorial design. That is, some volunteers will receive self-control training while still in prison as well as shortly after their release; some volunteers will receive training while still in prison only; some volunteers will receive training only after their release; and some volunteers will receive no training at all. At the beginning and end of each phase, various measures of self-control are assessed including individuals' ability to resist the temptation to cheat (Phase I) and the temptation to respond in a hostile manner to provocation (Phase II). This research design allows insight into how much self-control training is needed and when this training needs to occur in order to yield positive effects. Most importantly, this study examines the long-term consequences of the training by monitoring participants'- behavior following the 2 years after their release. If the self-control training is successful, reduced rates of re-offending, greater success of parole and, possibly, greater life success (e.g., employment, education) on the part of trainees will ensue.

犯罪学的研究确定缺乏自我控制或“意志力”是人们为什么犯罪的原因之一。个人通常无法抵抗许多犯罪行为承诺的短期满足。许多犯罪学家认为，一个人行使自我控制的大部分能力是在童年早期学习的。一旦建立，许多犯罪学家都认为个人在成年期间基本上无法改变的自我控制能力。然而，最近在社会心理学方面的研究发现，个人自我控制的能力更具动态性和可变性。通常，自我控制的功能像“肌肉”一样：这是一种有限的资源，可以通过大量使用来暂时用尽，但通过重复使用来增强。社会心理学家已经证明，可以通过相对简单的培训来增强个人自我控制能力。所谓的个人能够更好地抵抗积极和自私的冲动，并做出更有社会可接受的决定。该项目将这些见解应用于美国刑事司法系统。许多前监狱囚犯（40-50％）重新犯或违反了假释，并被送回监狱。这有助于美国拥有世界上最大的监狱人口，这对美国经济以及联邦和州的预算以及许多社会不利的社区付出了巨大的代价。如果通过简单且便宜的自我控制培训计划可以降低累犯率，则可能会有巨大的经济和社会益处。在这项实验研究中，即将释放的监狱囚犯（志愿者）被随机分配到自我控制的训练条件或控制条件时，而仍在监狱（I阶段I）。释放后不久，一半的前囚犯再次被随机分配给自我控制训练，而另一半则分配给对照条件（II期）。这会导致2（释放/第一阶段：自我控制训练与控制）x 2（释放后/第II阶段：自我控制训练与控制）阶乘设计。也就是说，一些志愿者将在释放后不久和在监狱中接受自制训练。一些志愿者将仅在监狱中接受培训；一些志愿者只有在释放后才会接受培训；一些志愿者根本不会接受培训。在每个阶段的开始和结束时，评估了各种自我控制的度量，包括个人抵制作弊的诱惑（I阶段）和以敌对方式挑衅的诱惑（I阶段）的诱惑（II阶段）。该研究设计可以深入了解需要进行多少自我控制训练，以及需要进行训练以产生积极影响。最重要的是，这项研究通过监测参与者的行为在释放后2年来检查培训的长期后果。如果自我控制的培训成功，则降低了重犯的速度，假释成功率以及可能会在受训者中获得更大的生活成功（例如，就业，教育）。