Gender Differences in the Empathy–Recidivism Relationship

Abstract

A large body of criminological research often focuses on risk factors that propel individuals toward criminal activity rather than those that act as protective factors to reduce criminal involvement. In this study, we focus on a potentially important protective factor, empathy, which has long been considered an individual characteristic related to prosocial human behavior including non-offending. Specifically, we test the effects of empathy on juvenile recidivism and evaluate how empathy interacts with gender as a protective factor among a large sample of adjudicated youth followed for 1-year post-release from a residential treatment facility. Results show that empathy was associated with lower recidivism among the entire sample of youth, with a stronger protective effect against recidivism for justice-involved female youth. Findings contribute to the gendered literature on responses to crime and suggest empathy should be included in programming and interventions for youth involved in the juvenile justice system, particularly for females.

A proven reoffending study of individuals managed under the multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) in England and Wales

“…Here, it has specifically been debated whether risk factors for reoffending are gender-neutral or gender-specific. Those endorsing a gender-neutral approach argue that the same risk factors and domains predict recidivism for males and females (for a meta-analysis, see Scott and Brown, 2018 ; see also Rettinger and Andrews, 2010 ), whilst those supporting a gender-specific approach claim that there is evidence for gender differences between predictors of recidivism (for a meta-analysis, see Collins, 2010 ; see also Benda, 2005 ; Du et al, 2013 ; Conrad et al, 2014 ; Jara et al, 2016 ; Miller et al, 2019 ; Robertson et al, 2019 ; Comartin et al, 2021 ; McNeeley, 2021 ; Narvey et al, 2023 ). Given how salient gender differences in recidivism are, as demonstrated both by previous research and our findings, it is vital that the underlying mechanisms and the differing impact of certain risk factors are investigated further.…”