Cognitive loopholes of crime: Mapping the Codevelopment of moral disengagement within perceptions of risks and rewards

Prior research has examined individuals' perceptions of punishments (PP) and rewards (PR) for crime, as well as their use of moral disengagement (MD), to understand why adolescents and young adults commit crimes. However, the joint development of these cognitions as a broader risk-perception mechanism remains understudied. This paper explores the independent and relational development of these processes in justice-involved youth. Data from 1,170 male participants (42.1% Black, 34.0% Hispanic, 19.2% White, 4.6% Other) in the Pathways to Desistance study were analyzed using a three-variable autoregressive latent trajectory model. MD, PP, and PR were measured across 11 waves and 7 years, allowing for the simultaneous examination of individual trajectories and their bidirectional relationships from adolescence to young adulthood. Although PP increased and MD and PR decreased across adolescence, all three exhibited decelerations in their change prior to young adulthood. Moreover, bidirectional relationships between the processes suggest the presence of harmful developmental cycles that may prematurely halt justice-involved youths' cognitive growth related to risk perception. Findings suggest that distorted risk and reward perceptions of crime, amplified by MD, may create harmful developmental cycles during adolescence that distort risk perception in adulthood. Further, the decelerations from late adolescence to young adulthood (~ages 18–22) point to a salient critical transitional period of development for these processes. These results may help inform developmentally tailored programs for at-risk youth. By targeting PP, PR, and MD as intertwined processes, interventions may recalibrate maladaptive perceptions, disrupt risky decision-making cycles, and reduce long-term offending.