COMPARING SOCIAL COGNITION IN INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE PERPETRATORS AND OTHER CRIMINAL OFFENDERS

This project explores whether men convicted of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) display distinct patterns of social cognitive functioning compared to other types of offenders and non-offenders. Specifically, the study assesses two core components of social cognition—empathy and emotional decoding ability—across five male groups: specialist IPVAW perpetrators (those whose violence is exclusively directed at intimate partners), generalist IPVAW perpetrators (those who have also committed violence against others), violent offenders unrelated to IPVAW, non-violent offenders, and individuals with no criminal record. The purpose of this study is threefold. First, it seeks to examine whether IPVAW perpetrators exhibit lower performance in empathy and emotion recognition compared to other offender and non-offender groups. Second, it aims to determine whether IPVAW perpetrators can be distinguished from each other—specifically, whether generalist and specialist perpetrators differ in their social cognitive profiles. Expected outcomes include a clearer understanding of the specific social cognitive weaknesses in IPVAW perpetrators and how these compare to other offender populations. The findings may inform the refinement of intervention programs by targeting deficits in empathy and emotional decoding that are particularly salient in intimate partner violence. Moreover, by including multiple comparison groups and distinguishing between types of IPVAW perpetrators, this study provides a more nuanced view of the cognitive-affective mechanisms underlying different forms of criminal behavior.