A Longitudinal Examination of Remorselessness and Offending

• In Event: New Perspectives in Offender Decision Making

Abstract

Warr (2016) recently argued that regret, an emotion experienced after an actor decides they have made a wrong decision, may be related to discontinuity in offending. Specifically, Warr posits that regret avoidance is a powerful mechanism of conformity, and that the ability to anticipate regret—conceptualized here as remorselessness—likely varies with time as a result of criminal experiences and maturity. We test Warr’s hypothesis using a large sample of serious adolescent offenders (N = 1354). Results from longitudinal analyses reveal at least two important findings. First, remorselessness does in fact vary over time. Two, after disaggregating our offense outcome by crime type, findings suggest the ability to anticipate regret is differentially associated with certain criminal behaviors. We discuss how our findings fit within the broader theoretical framework of criminal decision making and offer insights for future studies.

Authors

• Shaina Herman, University at Albany, SUNY

• Theodore Wilson, University at Albany, SUNY

• Justin Pickett, University at Albany, SUNY