Moral Development and Recidivism: A Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis of 19 studies (N = 15,992 offenders) showed a significant inverse relation between more mature moral development and recidivism. Moderator analyses revealed a larger effect size for moral cognition (r = .20) than for moral emotion (r = .11). Effect sizes for production measures (r =...

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Published inInternational journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology Vol. 55; no. 8; p. 1234
Main Authors Van Vugt, Eveline, Gibbs, John, Stams, Geert Jan, Bijleveld, Catrien, Hendriks, Jan, van der Laan, Peter
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC 21.02.2011
Subjects
Correctional treatment programs
Judgment
Juvenile offenders
Meta-analysis
Morality
Recidivism
Systematic review
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Summary:A meta-analysis of 19 studies (N = 15,992 offenders) showed a significant inverse relation between more mature moral development and recidivism. Moderator analyses revealed a larger effect size for moral cognition (r = .20) than for moral emotion (r = .11). Effect sizes for production measures (r = .57) were much larger than for recognition measures (r = .16) and unstructured (clinical) judgment (r = .10). Larger effect sizes were found for female delinquents (r = .32) than for male delinquents (r = .21).Only small differences in effect sizes were found between juvenile delinquents (r = .10) and adult delinquents (r = .16). Finally, self-report measures of recidivism revealed much larger effect sizes (r = .32) than official reports of recidivism (r = .09). The discussion focuses on the theoretical and practical meaning of the magnitude of the effect size for the relation between moral development and recidivism.
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ISSN:0306-624X
1552-6933
DOI:10.1177/0306624X10396441