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Facial emotion recognition in Scottish prisoners
Louise Robinson1, Michael D Spencer, Lindsay D G Thomson
1Division of Psychiatry, School of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh, EH10 5HF, UK. Louise.Robinson@ed.ac.uk
International Journal of Law and Psychiatry
|December 14, 2011
Summary
Scottish prisoners struggle to recognize negative facial emotions like anger and fear, unlike matched controls. This facial affect recognition deficit is linked to their criminal history, particularly previous prison sentences.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Forensic Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Antisocial populations exhibit deficits in facial affect recognition.
- Similar deficits are observed in clinical conditions like autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate facial affect recognition differences between Scottish prisoners and matched controls.
- To explore the relationship between facial affect recognition deficits and offense history in prisoners.
Main Methods:
- Assessed facial affect recognition ability in 127 convicted prisoners across 11 prisons.
- Collected data on other variables and self-reported offending history.
- Utilized age, sex, and IQ-matched controls for comparison.
Main Results:
- Male prisoners showed significant deficits in recognizing negative emotions (anger, fear, sadness, disgust) compared to controls.
- Fear recognition deficits correlated with a history of previous prison sentences, not just convictions.
- Sex offenders displayed distinct patterns, better recognizing sadness but worse recognizing surprise than other offenders, even after controlling for IQ.
Conclusions:
- Scottish convicted prisoners exhibit facial affect recognition deficits consistent with other antisocial populations.
- Novel associations were found between specific recognition deficits and types of offending history.
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