Recidivist personality in the context of crime  and punishment perceptions: a criminological  and psychological study

Kirill Zlokazov; Tat'yana Pivovarova

VAK Russia 5.3.9 UDC 159.9

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RECIDIVIST PERSONALITY IN THE CONTEXT OF CRIME AND PUNISHMENT PERCEPTIONS: A CRIMINOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY Recidivist personality in the context of crime and punishment perceptions: a criminological and psychological study

АА Аа

Published in Russian Journal of Deviant Behavior · Volume 6, Issue 2 · Pages 253–287 · Rubric: Psychological research on deviant behavior

Received: 01.07.2026 Accepted: 17.07.2026 Published: 30.07.2026

Authors

Kirill Zlokazov

ORCID Scopus ResearcherID Scholar SPIN

Tat'yana Pivovarova

ORCID

Kirill Zlokazov

Russian Federation

ORCID Scopus ResearcherID Scholar SPIN

Tat'yana Pivovarova

Academic degree: candidate of psychological sciences

Saint Petersburg University of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia Senior Lecturer · Department of Humanities and Socio-Economic Disciplines, Faculty of Engineering and Technology · Russian Federation · Saint Petersburg

ORCID

ABSTRACT

Introduction. The relevance of the research stems from the need to counteract recidivism and to improve the effectiveness of preventive measures against crimes committed by previously convicted individuals. The study aims to overcome the lack of information regarding the role of perceptions of crime and punishment, as well as their moral evaluation, in regulating unlawful behaviour. The findings obtained make it possible to apply a subject-activity approach to the study of the personality of repeat offenders, providing further understanding of the extent of antisocial attitudes and socio-psychological maladjustment in groups of recidivists who commit violent and acquisitive crimes. The aim of the study is to provide a theoretical description of subjective perceptions of crime and punishment as components of a recidivist's personality, and to conduct an empirical assessment of their level in relation to the number of repeat offences. Methods: The theoretical research is carried out by means of the analysis and synthesis of theories and concepts relating to the personality of repeat offenders. Methods of concretisation and conceptualisation are used to generalise findings on the role of perceptions of crime and punishment. The empirical research is based on a questionnaire survey, the results are processed using correlation analysis (Spearman’s), comparative analysis (U-test), multiple regression analysis and covariance analysis in order to identify the role of perceptions of crime and punishment, levels of guilt and shame in samples of repeatedly convicted offenders. The sample comprises 911 convicted individuals, with an average age of 38.2 years; the number of convictions ranges from 2 to 13. Results: Based on an analysis of theories and concepts, theoretical approaches for describing the personality of a repeat offender (differential-typological, socio-psychological and subject-activity-based ones) are given. The study demonstrates that perceptions of crime and punishment can be regarded as regulators of social behaviour, whereas their intensity varies depending on the cycles of criminalisation. The study revealed that the level of antisocial perceptions changes between the second and fourth convictions. By the fifth conviction, 92% of repeat offenders express antisocial perceptions of crime and punishment, thereby completing the formation of the repeat offender's personality. Differences are identified in the experience of guilt and shame depending on the cycle of recidivism: whilst the level of guilt and shame stands at 100% for those with two convictions, it decreases by 18–19% with each cycle among profit-motivated recidivists; by 23-28% among violent offenders, reaching only 35-40% of the initial level by the fifth conviction; by the seventh conviction, the level of guilt and shame practically disappears. The findings can be used in working out methods for assessing the risk of reoffending and in developing models for psychopreventive work based on modifying reoffenders’ subjective perceptions of crime and punishment.

KEYWORDS

offender profile, repeat offender profile, psychology of recidivism, recidivism, guilt, probation, reintegration

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