91ÅÝܽ

When determining the reasons that an individual engages in criminalized behaviour, researchers have typically focused on identifying their difficulties or risks. However, in recent years, there has been a growing interest in identifying the positive qualities or strengths that support well-being and protect against criminalization.

Asking about strengths can lead to more balanced and less biased information about an individual. In addition, asking about strengths may be beneficial for treatment to reduce reoffending. Limited research, however, has been conducted to directly test this.

To address this gap, we published a study in the that examined the effects of asking persons on probation about their positive qualities (as opposed to their difficulties). To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first studies to examine whether assessing strengths might lead to improved outcomes in this population.

This study was led by McKenzie Braley and Samuel Matthew, psychology PhD students at 91ÅÝܽ whose research focuses on supporting the well-being and rights of individuals involved in the legal system.

Along with other members of the research team – , Lara Aknin, and Jodi Viljoen â€“ we analyzed data collected from 101 adults on probation in British Columbia. Each participant was randomly assigned to an interview that either focused on their difficulties or their positive qualities. The interview that focused on their difficulties asked about period of heightened offending and associated risk factors, such as mental health symptoms, substance use, and trauma or abuse. The interview that focused on their positive qualities asked about a period of reduced offending and gathered information about strengths, such as social support, educational success, stable employment, and community engagement. Participants completed measures about their emotional state, alliance with the interviewer, engagement with the interview, motivation to change, and prosocial identity before, immediately after, and one-month later, depending on the measure.

Asking about strengths improved prosocial identity

We found that individuals on probation whose interviewers asked about their positive qualities saw themselves as less likely to reoffend in the future than those who completed an interview focused on their risk factors. This difference remained one month after the interview was conducted. It could be that reminding people who have offended of times when they successfully reduced their offending increased their confidence in their ability to change.

No other meaningful effects were found

Contrary to our expectations, those who received an interview focused on their positive qualities did not report themselves as any different on emotional affect, alliance with the interviewer (e.g., stronger bond), more engagement (e.g., an increased willingness to disclose information), or readiness to change than those whose interviewers asked about their difficulties. Instead, individuals who completed both interview types reported less negative affect and greater pride following the interview, as well as a high level of connection to the interviewer. These findings suggest that when people disclose information about themselves, even when that information is negative or unflattering, they feel an increased sense of closeness with the listener. Furthermore, disclosing negative and positive events can yield similar benefit, such as a decrease in distress and depression.

Going forward, further research should be conducted with larger and more diverse samples, across various settings and age groups, at different phases of the legal system, and with designs that better reflect real-world conditions.

Although assessing positive qualities or strengths did not led to consistent improvements across variables, there is preliminary evidence that asking about strengths has benefits and may have implications for reducing offending. For instance, in the , motivational state and intentions to stop offending have been found to predict lower subsequent offending.

Approaches focused on positive qualities should be used with people in the legal system to avoid pathologization and to foster resilience.