Psychology of Criminal Conduct

James Bonta served as Director of Corrections Research at Public Safety Canada from 1990 until 2015. He received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Ottawa in 1979. Bonta was a psychologist, and later Chief Psychologist, at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, a maximum-security remand facility for adults and young offenders. Throughout his career, Bonta has held various academic appointments and professional posts. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association, a recipient of the Association’s Criminal Justice Section’s Career Contribution Award for 2009, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, 2012, the Maud Booth Correctional Services Award, 2015, and the 2015 Community Corrections Award from the International Corrections and Prisons Association.The late D.A. Andrews was a noted psychologist affiliated with Carleton University throughout his academic career. His work on the psychology of criminal conduct produced what became known as the "theory of correctional intervention," which set the standard for successful intervention practices throughout the field of corrections worldwide. He was a founding member of Carleton’s Criminology and Criminal Justice Program and a Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association.

Praise for the Sixth Edition:"…The Psychology of Criminal Conduct is the most important book ever written in criminology. A scientific tour de force, it outlines the evidence-based RNR paradigm for understanding why people break the law and how to affect their rehabilitation. This paradigm has been used across and beyond North America to save countless offenders from a life in crime and thus countless citizens from victimization. To be literate in criminology and in correctional treatment, all scholars, students, and practitioners should read this book—and then, as I do, keep it close by and consult it often.– Francis T. Cullen, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, Criminal Justice, University of Cincinnati, Recipient of the 2022 Stockholm Prize in CriminologyNo other single book has so transformed the field of correctional intervention. For more than 20 years this volume has been essential reading for everyone: from students of criminal psychology to correctional professionals, including prison officers, probation officers, case managers, and experienced psychologists.--Devon Polaschek, PhD DipClinPsyc, Professor, Criminal Psychology, Victoria University of WellingtonThe book shows how to explain, predict, and treat sexual, violent, acquisitive, and other offending and puts the findings in a convincing theoretical and practice-oriented framework. It is essential reading not only for students in the fields of criminology, psychology and law, forensic psychology and psychiatry, sociology, social work and other crime-related disciplines, but also for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers in these areas. –Friedrich Lösel,Professor and Director Emeritus, Institute of Criminology, Cambridge University (UK), and Institute of Psychology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg

• Part 1: The Theoretical Context and Knowledge Base to the Psychology of Criminal Conduct Chapter 1: An Overview of the Psychology of Criminal Conduct Chapter 2: The Empirical Basis to the Psychology of Criminal Conduct Chapter 3: From Criminology Theories to a Psychological Perspective of Criminal Conduct Part 2: The Major Risk/Need Factors of Criminal Conduct Chapter 4: The Biological Basis of Criminal Behavior Chapter 5: Antisocial Personality Pattern Chapter 6: The Role of Procriminal Associates and Attitudes in Criminal Conduct Chapter 7: The Person in Social Context: Family, Marital, School, Work, Leisure/Recreation, and Neighborhood Chapter 8: Substance Misuse Part 3: Applications Chapter 9: The Risk-Need-Responsivity Model of Assessment and Treatment Chapter 10: Prediction and Classification of Criminal Behavior Chapter 11: Rehabilitation Chapter 12: Creating and Maintaining RNR Adherence: A Real-World Challenge Chapter 13: The Failed Experiment: Getting Tough on Crime Chapter 14: Criminal Subtypes: Intimate Partner Violence, the Mentally Disordered, and Sexual Offenders Part 4: Summary and Conclusions Chapter 15: A General Personality and Cognitive Social Learning Perspective of Criminal Conduct: Summary and Conclusions