Understanding Crime Through Emotions – Findings from a Two-Phase Study of Alexithymia

Alexithymia, characterised by difficulties identifying and describing one’s own emotions, has increasingly been recognised as a transdiagnostic construct associated with a range of adverse psychological and behavioural outcomes. Despite growing interest within clinical psychology, its relevance to offending behaviour remains comparatively underexplored within criminological research.

This presentation reports findings from a two-phase doctoral study examining the relationship between alexithymia and offending behaviour through a criminologically informed biopsychosocial framework. Phase One involved a systematic review synthesising over five decades of international research on alexithymia among incarcerated populations, identifying consistent associations with trauma exposure, mental health difficulties, personality functioning, and violent offending, while highlighting important methodological limitations within the existing evidence base.

Building on these findings, Phase Two employed a cross-sectional quantitative design comparing adults with a history of incarceration to individuals from the general community. The study examined differences in alexithymia, adverse childhood experiences, personality functioning, attachment, self-compassion, trauma symptoms, and aggression. Findings indicate that individuals with a history of incarceration reported significantly greater emotional difficulties, higher levels of childhood adversity and psychological distress, and poorer personality functioning than community participants. The results further demonstrate the importance of considering emotional functioning within broader developmental pathways associated with offending.

The presentation discusses the implications of these findings for criminological theory, rehabilitation, and criminologically informed approaches to reducing reoffending, while highlighting the value of integrating emotional processes into contemporary understandings of offending behaviour.