Does Criminogenic Thinking or Psychopathic Features Transform Prosocial Maturity into Criminal Sophistication?

The justice system utilizes the relatively poorly understood concepts of developmental maturity and criminal sophistication. It has been suggested that the relationship between developmental maturity and either prosocial maturity or criminal sophistication might be determined by the third variables of criminogenic thinking or psychopathic features. We tested these two hypotheses. A secondary data analysis focusing on self-report and interview-based measures of developmental maturity, criminogenic thinking, psychopathic features, and criminal sophistication was administered to a subsample of 105 incarcerated young adults. Statistical assumptions for two hierarchical multiple regression models appeared satisfied. Neither criminogenic thinking nor psychopathic features moderated the effect of developmental maturity on criminal sophistication (e.g., R2 changes were minimal, and the interaction terms were not significant). Instead, there were significant positive main effects (p ≤ .001) for both developmental maturity (B = .78, SE B = .22) and criminogenic thinking (B = 2.10, SE B = .44) on criminal sophistication (R2 = .25, p < .001). Similarly, significant positive main effects were observed (p < .001) for both developmental maturity (B = .88, SE B = .23) and psychopathic features (B = 2.78, SE B = .65) on criminal sophistication (R2 = .22, p < .001). The positive relationship between developmental maturity and criminal sophistication did not vary across levels of criminogenic thinking nor psychopathic features. However, the justice system can predict the highest levels of criminal sophistication among those for whom developmental maturity and either criminogenic thinking or psychopathic features are higher.