Examining the predictors of prosocial behavior in young offenders and nonoffenders

Abstract

Research on young offenders has primarily focused on identifying predictors of the maladaptive, aggressive behavior; there is a scarcity of evidence on factors that relate to prosocial behavior in these adolescents. The current study examined the link from parenting, emotional instability, and prosocial reasoning to prosocial behavior, while also examining the mediating roles of empathic concern (EC) and perspective taking (PT) in a sample of Spanish adolescent offenders compared to a sample of nonoffenders. Participants were 440 adolescents: 220 young offenders residing in four Youth Detention Centres of Valencia (67.3% men) and 220 enrolled in public and private schools within the metropolitan area of Valencia (65.9% men). The two subsamples were similar in age (15−18 years), gender, and social class. Analyses show differences in mother’s permissiveness with empathy (PT and EC), in emotional instability and internalized reasoning with PT in predicting prosocial behavior in offenders and nonoffenders adolescents. EC and PT are significative and positively related to prosocial behavior in both groups. These findings have implications for prevention and reeducation interventions oriented to social reinsertion of adolescent offenders and the development of family and social counseling programs that favor adaptive behavior.