Examining the Reliability and Validity of the Criminal Sentiments Scale–Modified and the Pride in Delinquency Scale in Black and White Canadian Justice System-Involved Youth

Procriminal attitudes, key recidivism predictors in the Risk-Need-Responsivity framework, differ among Black and White individuals. However, the procriminal attitudes domain and associated measures have not been critically examined based on race. We examined psychometric properties of the Criminal Sentiments Scale-Modified (CSS-M) and the Pride in Delinquency Scale (PIDS) in 473 justice system-involved Black and White youth. Both scales showed acceptable internal reliability, construct validity, and convergent validity across groups. Procriminal attitudes aligned with antisocial behavior and substance use for White youth, but this was less pronounced for Black youth. The five-factor CSS-M predicted recidivism for White youth, and the PIDS improved predictions. For Black youth, the CSS-M Total and Police subscale, but not the PIDS, predicted recidivism. Results suggest caution in the use of these tools with Black youth. Future research should investigate the role of procriminal attitudes in offending for marginalized groups.