The emotions shame and guilt may represent a critical stepping stone in the rehabilitation process. Often referred to as "moral" emotions owing to their presumed role in promoting altruistic behavior and inhibiting antisocial behaviors, shame and guilt provide potentially exciting points of intervention with offenders. In this article, we describe current psychological theory and research that underscores important differences between shame and guilt. We note parallels between psychologists' conceptions of guilt and shame, and criminologists' conceptions of reintegrative and disintegrative shaming. We summarize recent research investigating the implications of these moral emotions for criminal and risky behavior, with special emphasis on the handful of studies conducted with actual offenders. We conclude with a discussion of implications for treatment in criminal justice settings.
Previous research investigating the relationship between Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and sleep problems, independent of depression, has been conducted on small atypical samples with mixed results. This study extends the literature by utilizing a much larger sample and by statistically controlling for depression and substance dependence. Subjective reports of sleep problems were obtained from 513 jail inmates (70% male) incarcerated on felony charges. Symptoms of BPD were significantly associated with sleep problems even when controlling for depression. Thus, sleep problems associated with BPD cannot be attributed simply to co-morbid symptoms of depression and substance dependence was ruled out as proximal causes for this relationship. Symptoms of depression, but not Antisocial Personality features, were related to sleep problems independent of substance dependence. Treatment of individuals with BPD may be more effective if sleep problems are explicitly addressed in the treatment plan.
Amnesia for the perpetration of violent offences is an important issue in medico-legal proceedings. Previous studies of amnesia have mainly relied on selected groups of unconvicted offenders, which raises the question of how reliable the findings are. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and phenomenological qualities of amnesia in violent offenders. In semi-structured interviews with 105 young offenders convicted of serious violence, 20 (19%) reported partial amnesia for their offence and only one (1%) reported complete amnesia. Amnesia was associated with high alcohol intake, emotional ties to the victim, and cognitive processing during the assault. Complete amnesia for violent crime appears to be less frequent than suggested by previous reports using unconvicted samples. The findings have implications for the clinical assessment of claimed amnesia for violent crime and are potentially of medico-legal significance.