The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles

Abstract

This article describes the evolution, standardization, and preliminary validation of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS), an instrument designed to measure thinking styles believed to be associated with serious patterns of criminal conduct. Responses obtained from 450 federal prison inmates were used to establish norms for the PICTS, assess the reliability of the various PICTS scales, and investigate preliminary validity issues. The results indicate that maximum-security subjects attained significantly higher scores on the PICTS thinking scales than minimum- and medium-security subjects and that the PICTS possesses sufficient reliability and initial validity to warrant continued investigation.