Abstract:
The current study aimed to determine the extent of the interaction between
the alexithymia and the type of crime on the self-concept, and extent of
alexithymia prevalence among prisoners according to the cut-off score in the
scales used in this study, and the relationship between alexithymia and selfconcept. Moreover, the Scales were applied to a sample of detainees from the
central prison in Kuwait who committed violent and fnancial crimes. The
study used a sample of (N= 329(, with an age average of (34.65( and SD (8.41(
and applied both the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS- 20( and the Tennessee
Self-Concept Scale- short version.
The study results showed that incidence of alexithymia had lower levels
of self-concept compared to non-incidence and potential incidence of
alexithymia, in addition to the presence of a high level of alexithymia and
a low self-concept in favour for the perpetrators of violent crimes compared
to the perpetrators of fnancial crimes. The study showed no signifcant
differences for the interaction of alexithymia and the type of crime on the
self-concept. Also, the incidence of alexithymia in the total sample reached
(51.1%(, while the potential incidence reached (32.5%(, and the percentage
of non-incidence was the lowest at (16.4%(. Furthermore, the results revealed
that alexithymia and its dimensions were negatively related to the self-concept
and its dimensions and the total score for both.
Finally, the study concluded that alexithymia and low self-concept were
associated with violent criminal behaviour compared with less violent crimes
and non-criminals.
