Low internalised restraint predicts criminal recidivism in young female prisoners

The Weinberger Adjustment Inventory (WAI) measures social-emotional adjustment along two dimensions: distress and restraint. Four types of adjustment according to this measure have been shown to correlate with criminal recidivism among young male prisoners: reactive (high distress, low restraint), suppressor (high distress, high restraint), non-reactive (low distress, low restraint) and repressor (low distress, high restraint).

To evaluate the predictive potential of the WAI among young female prisoners.

Women under 30 years old, consecutively admitted to one of three Norwegian prisons, were asked to complete the WAI. Most of those eligible (102, 94%) did so. Re-conviction data were collected from the National Crime Register 38 months (SD = 9.0) after release.

The overall re-conviction rate was 38%. Rates differed according to the four WAI types: 53% in the non-reactive, 50% in the reactive, 22% in the suppressor and 11% in the repressor group (p = 0.006). Kaplan-Meier analyses showed that group differences were explained by the WAI restraint dimension (p = 0.008). Differences on the distress dimension did not influence re-conviction. Cox regression analysis (adjusting for age at first court conviction and prior offences) found that women with low restraint scores were almost three times as likely to re-offend as women with high restraint scores.

The WAI appears to be an effective tool for identifying women who are particularly vulnerable to re-offending. Evidence of high capacity for restraint is protective, regardless of distress levels and even after adjusting for the effect of other criminologically important factors. The findings are suggestive that there may be value in individualising 'treatment' or rehabilitation programmes for prisoners.