Law-abiding versus criminal identity and self-efficacy: A quantitative approach to unravel psychological factors supporting desistance from crime

Previous studies suggest that the process of desistance from crime is accompanied by a shift from criminal to law-abiding identity and self-efficacy. Against this background and to explain variance in recidivism, we developed direct and indirect measures of law-abiding and criminal identity as well as a direct measure of self-efficacy for law-abiding and criminal behavior. We predicted that 1) a stronger law-abiding identity relative to criminal identity as well as 2) a stronger self-efficacy for law-abiding and a weaker self-efficacy for criminal behavior will correlate with a lower risk to reoffend and will prospectively explain variance in recidivism. We applied the developed measures in a sample of 325 offenders on probation and tested cross-sectional associations with actuarial risk factors at T1. Two to three years later, we tested whether identity and self-efficacy measured at T1 explained variance in recidivism at T2, controlling for actuarial risk factors. Results showed that a stronger law-abiding identity relative to criminal identity as well as a stronger self-efficacy for law-abiding and a weaker self-efficacy for criminal behavior correlated with a lower risk to reoffend (T1). In addition, law-abiding relative to criminal identity prospectively explained variance in recidivism over and beyond actuarial risk factors (T2). The results indicate that the strength of law-abiding identity relative to criminal identity plays a role in persisting in or desisting from criminal behavior. Yet, further research is necessary to identify the causal psychological mechanisms of identity change in the process towards desistance from crime.