A Relationship of Criminal Social Identity and Recidivism with The Moderating Role of Psychopathic Traits in Prison Inmates

All around the world, crime has prompted studies concerning the causes and factors that underlie criminal behaviour. This study investigated the relationship of criminal social identity and recidivism along with the moderating role of psychopathic traits. This correlation research employed a cross-sectional research design. The research population included individuals in prison. Through purposive sampling there were 135 prison inmates (n=135) with the age range from 19-63 years (M=32.95, SD=9.09). Measurement tools included Measure of criminal social identity (Shagufta et al., 2016), The Statistical Information on Recidivism-Revised 1 (SIR-R1) scale (Nafekh & Motiuk, 2002), in which the items measure demographic information on criminal history. And lastly Levenson self-report psychopathy scale Urdu version (Shagufta, 2023). Correlation analysis was conducted which showed significant relationship between the variable’s criminal social identity and psychopathic traits. Furthermore, no moderating effect of psychopathic traits on criminal social identity and recidivism was found in present sample. This research adds into the literature of these variables in context to Pakistani culture providing an insight to the criminal social identity and personality traits of criminals which will be helpful in the field of forensic psychology and criminology.