Predicting Multidimensional Delinquency from Active Criminal Schemas and Cognitive Self-Awareness: The Mediating Role of Identity Styles among Juvenile Offenders
Downloads
Objective: This study examined if multidimensional delinquency can be predicted from active criminal schemas and cognitive self-awareness, and whether identity styles mediate these relationships.
Methods and Materials: A descriptive–correlational study using structural equation modeling was conducted with 200 adolescents residing in the Tehran Juvenile Correction and Rehabilitation Center in Tehran, Iran, during the second half of 2024. Participants, selected by convenience sampling, completed standard questionnaires assessing multidimensional delinquency, criminogenic cognitions, cognitive self-awareness, and identity styles. Data were analysed using Pearson correlations, SEM, and bootstrapped indirect effects, with statistical significance set at p ≤ 0.05.
Findings: Multidimensional delinquency showed a positive correlation with active criminal schemas and diffuse-avoidant identity style, and negative correlations with cognitive self-awareness and informational, normative, and commitment identity styles. The structural model demonstrated acceptable fit (χ²/df = 2.54, RMSEA = 0.07, CFI = 0.99). Active criminal schemas and diffuse-avoidant identity style had significant positive direct effects on delinquency, whereas cognitive self-awareness and informational, normative, and commitment identity styles had significant negative direct effects. Bootstrap analyses confirmed that all identity styles significantly mediated the effects of active criminal schemas and cognitive self-awareness on multidimensional delinquency.
Conclusion: Multidimensional delinquency among incarcerated adolescents can be predicted by higher levels of active criminal schemas and lower cognitive self-awareness, with identity styles playing an important mediating role. Interventions that modify criminogenic cognitions, strengthen metacognitive awareness, and foster adaptive identity processing styles may potentially improve rehabilitation outcomes in juvenile correctional settings.
Downloads
Aygun, B., & Soylu, N. (2025). Factors linked to juvenile delinquency among forced migrant children. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 111, 102829. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102829
Azaditalab, A., Khodabakhshi Koolaee, A., Falsafinejad, M. R., & Kashani Vahid, L. (2025). A Grounded Theory Exploration of Environmental, Societal, and Contextual Factors Affecting Adolescent Identity Development in Dysfunctional Families: A School Counselor's Perspective. International Journal of Body, Mind & Culture (2345-5802), 12(2). https://doi.org/10.61838/ijbmc.v12i2.891
Berzonsky, M. D. (1992). Identity style and coping strategies. Journal of Personality, 60(4), 771-788. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1992.tb00273.x
Branch, R., & Berman, S. L. (2023). Risk propensity as a function of personality and identity. Youth, 3(2), 526-540. https://doi.org/10.3390/youth3020036
Brown, C., Julian, R., & Howes, L. M. (2024). ‘Strands in a cable’: effective investigator decision-making using forensic identification evidence in volume crime investigations. Policing and Society, 34(5), 417-433. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2023.2279063
Elmi, Z., Delavar, A., Azad, E., & Zare Bahramabadi, M. (2024). Structural model of emotional maturity based on identity styles with the mediating role of the meaning of life in secondary school teenagers in Tehran. Rooyesh-e-Ravanshenasi Journal (RRJ), 13(10), 71-80. http://frooyesh.ir/article-1-5538-en.html
Gualco, B., Pescatore, E., & Rensi, R. (2025). Sport, relationship with parents, deviant behaviours and victimization in adolescents in Europe: the results of the International Self-report Delinquency study 3 (ISRD 3). International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 30(1), 2470943. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2025.2470943
Guo, S., Lei, J., & Zhang, F. (2025). How social media social comparison influences Chinese adolescents' flourishing: the mediation effects of identity processing styles. Child & Family Social Work, 30(4), 950-959. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.13232
Ibad, M. R., Widowati, S., Arfianto, M. A., Fikri, Z., & Rahma, A. A. (2023). The relationship between parenting style with adolescent identity development in Karangploso district, Malang regency Indonesia. Jurnal Keperawatan, 14(1), 11-16. https://doi.org/10.22219/jk.v14i01.23156
Kõiv, K. (2024). Personal and Social Identity among Estonian Male Juvenile Delinquents: Descriptive Analysis. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 12(2), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2024.122001
Lak, M., & Bagherian, R. (2025). Investigating the mediating role of maladaptive metacognitive beliefs in the relationship between personality traits of neuroticism and conscientiousness with symptoms of insomnia and nightmares in Isfahan University students. Rooyesh-e-Ravanshenasi Journal (RRJ), 13(9), 1-10. http://frooyesh.ir/article-1-5251-en.html
Liu, J., Schmitz, K., Guo, S., & Liu, Y. (2025). Causal analysis with multidimensional treatments: A brief review with application on religious profiles and substance abuse among emerging adults. Communications in Statistics: Case Studies, Data Analysis and Applications, 11(2), 189-203. https://doi.org/10.1080/23737484.2025.2474752
Lynne, S. D., Fagan, A. A., Counts, T. M., Bryan, J. L., Kidd, J., & Fogarty, K. (2025). Buffering effects of positive childhood experiences on the association between adolescents' adverse childhood experiences and delinquency: A statewide study. Child Abuse & Neglect, 163, 107325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107325
Rosa, W., Pinheiro, S., do Nascimento, A. M., & Roazzi, A. (2025). Breaking the cycle of violence and trauma: How self-awareness mediates the cognitive impact of bullying. AMAzônica, 18(1), 1532-1568. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=9947124
Sadeghi Shahrakhti, J., & Ahi, Q. (2019). Investigation of factor structure, validity and reliability of the Criminogenic Cognitions Scale (CCS) in Students of Birjand University of Medical Sciences. J Birjand Univ Med Sci, 26(1), 83-94. http://journal.bums.ac.ir/article-1-
Sahami, S., HosseinZei, E., & Parvizzadeh, N. (2017). Building and Validating Multidimensional Scale of Adolescent and Youth Juvenile Delinquency. https://sid.ir/paper/227478/en
Saravag, P. K., & B, R. K. (2024). An application of scan statistics in identification and analysis of hotspot of crime against women in Rajasthan, India. Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy, 17(3), 963-982. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12061-024-09572-z
Shtiwi, W. F. (2023). Emotional Regulation as a Predictor of Psychological Identity Styles among Adolescents. International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology, 11(6), 1566-1581. https://doi.org/10.46328/ijemst.3816
Taiwo, G. A., Saraee, M., & Fatai, J. (2024). Crime prediction using twitter sentiments and crime data. Informatica, 48(6). https://doi.org/10.31449/inf.v48i6.4749
Tangney, J. P., Stuewig, J., Furukawa, E., Kopelovich, S., Meyer, P. J., & Cosby, B. (2012). Reliability, validity, and predictive utility of the 25-item Criminogenic Cognitions Scale (CCS). Criminal justice and behavior, 39(10), 1340-1360. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854812451092
Ward, C., Szabó, Á., Schwartz, S. J., & Meca, A. (2021). Acculturative stress and cultural identity styles as predictors of psychosocial functioning in Hispanic Americans. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 80, 274-284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2020.12.002
Zareh, L., & Ghazanfari, A. (2014). Relationship between spiritual intelligence and attachment styles with identity in students at the universities of Isfahan Province. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 4(9), 1. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v4-i9/1152
Copyright (c) 2025 International Journal of Body, Mind and Culture
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
