The Psychology of Criminal Conduct

The Psychology of Criminal Conduct, 6th Edition, provides a foundational description of risk assessment for individuals involved in the criminal justice system, drawing upon general personality as well as cognitive-behavioral and cognitive social learning perspectives. James Bonta and Donald Andrews offer a coherent theory of criminal behavior that is empirically supported throughout the book. They provide an overview of theoretical context and major knowledge base of the psychology of criminal conduct, discuss the eight major risk/need factors of criminal conduct, examine the prediction and classification of criminal behavior along with prevention and rehabilitation, and finally summarize the major issues in understanding criminal conduct. This book also offers the Risk/Need/Responsivity (RNR) model, a model of offender assessment and treatment that has guided developments in the area.

In this edition, the first since Andrews’ death, Bonta carefully maintains all the book’s original contributions while presenting these core concepts succinctly, clearly, and elegantly. Appropriate for advanced undergraduates and graduate students as well as for scholars, researchers, and practitioners, The Psychology of Criminal Conduct, 6th Edition, improves upon and extends the content of this important book with further refinements of the authors’ body of work.

James Bonta served as Director of Corrections Research at Public Safety Canada from 1990 until 2015. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Ottawa in 1979. Bonta was a psychologist, and later Chief Psychologist, at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, a maximum-security remand facility for adults and young offenders. Throughout his career, Bonta has held various academic appointments and professional posts and was a member of the Editorial Advisory Boards for theCanadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Behavior. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association, a recipient of the Association’s Criminal Justice Section’s Career Contribution Award for 2009, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, 2012, the Maud Booth Correctional Services Award, 2015, and the 2015 Community Corrections Award from the International Corrections and Prisons Association.

The late D.A. Andrews was a noted criminologist affiliated with Carleton University throughout his academic career. His work on the psychology of criminal conduct produced what became known as the "theory of correctional intervention," which set the standard for successful intervention practices throughout the field of corrections worldwide. He was a founding member of Carleton’s Criminology and Criminal Justice Program and a Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association. He received numerous awards for his work in the criminal justice field, including those from the American Probation and Parole Association, Correctional Service Canada, the International Community Corrections Association, and the American Society of Criminology. After his retirement, he remained active in the criminal justice field as a Professor Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor.