Sensation Seeking: A Criminogenic Risk Factor for Justice-Involved Veterans

Date

2019-08-28

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Abstract

Justice Involved Veterans (JIV) represent a deceptively distinct subgroup of offenders in the criminal justice system. Although there is a substantial body of research concerning mental health and criminal justice system involvement, there remains a lack of effective programming tailored to the unique criminogenic needs of JIVs. Though pathological personality has been highlighted as a factor in the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model (Andrews et al., 2004), current interventions appear to fall short of addressing the underlying mental health issues of veterans that lead to criminal justice involvement. Sensation seeking is one such pathological personality trait of interest that has implications for criminal behavior. The current study examined the associations between sensation seeking and military experience with criminal justice involvement. This study discusses implications of unique criminogenic needs of military veterans on rates of recidivism provides new insights into the relationship between sensation seeking and criminogenic risk factors for recidivism while also filling a gap in the pathological personality literature.

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Keywords

Sensation seeking, Pathological personality, Veterans, Criminogenic risk, Offenders

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