Compendium of Thinking Errors and Thought Distortion Patterns Page 1 of 4

Anger - though not always shown it has many forms and can be caused by a plethora of circumstances; the result of being
incapable of handling problems and conflicts in an appropriate manner; the result of possessing primitive coping skills; the
result of the zero state; the result of fear and lack, of trust in others; retaliating against fear; the result of the inability to
conceive a successful future; it is cumulative and transferable
Building up self as a good person - perceiving oneself as a moral person who adheres to appropriate values despite one's
crimes; a primitive coping mechanism to deal with guilt; a manifestation of denial
Closed channel - refusing to be receptive to information, disclose thoughts or feelings, or be self-critical of one's own actions
Changing the story - when one confuses the details of an elaborate lie or is forced to adapt the lie to details that were previously
undisclosed; usually accompanied by vagueness or feigned uncertainty in order to allow room for adaptation to the story
Concrete thinking - the failure to see similarities between similar situations; the failure to learn from experience; the failure to
conceptualize the inability to realize how certain experiences teach lessons that apply to dissimilar situations
Confusion - often used by a criminal to avoid ownership; when one purposefully complicates an issue in order to make the
reality unclear
Corrosion and cut off - eliminating all deterrents sequentially; the ability to put everything that might make one not commit a
crime out of mind; often generates criminal pride as such mental discipline is considered an achievement to a criminal
Criminal excitement - the thrill or rush derived from committing, discussing, or thinking about a crime
Criminal pride - feeling proud of one's crimes, attitudes, and lifestyle; people making an honest living viewed as weak or
foolish
Criminal priorities - the belief that certain things such as reputation, money, material possessions, criminal excitement, and
substance abuse are the most important things in life
Deferment to final objective - may manifest itself in one or more of three forms: 1. postponing criminal activity in order to
commit the "ultimate crime"; one of the few times a criminal individual will exercise self-control 2. the belief that the intent
to become good means that one is good despite present behaviour 3. the belief that the end justifies the means even if the
means is criminal
Denial- often of a problem or consequences of a behaviour; a primitive coping mechanism; having problems that can't be dealt
with is seen as a weakness
Disrespect - respect viewed as something gained through intimidation; to give respect means to surrender control, to be weak
Disrespect for authority - respect for authority seen as a weakness; to relinquish control of the situation and to admit past
wrong doings; authority figures perceived to be the enemy
Disrespect for female authority - usually due to sexist attitudes or to issues concerning women in the past
Disrespect for male authority - males are often viewed as authority figures or as someone who presents a threat; sometimes
due to issues with males in the past
Diversion - often used by a criminal to avoid ownership or as a tactic during counselling to avoid a difficult issue; to divulge
unrelated information in order to change the subject or the alter to focus of an issue
Enabling - assisting, encouraging, indifference towards, or failing to hold accountable a peer or group of peers involved in a
negative activity; when a parent or guardian encourages or fails to prohibit criminal behaviour or thinking
Entrenchment - maintaining a questionable view with an illogical argument, usually because it is the foundation upon which a
criminal justification rests; refusing to accept logic and admit wrong doing
Failure to accept feedback - the inability to accept constructive criticism; often viewed as a personal attack on an individual's
self-worth or overall performance; often results in anger, frustration, or a loss of self-esteem
Failure to assume moral obligation - purposefully ignoring what is right or wrong-in order to commit crimes or irresponsible
acts without conscious
Failure to endure adversity - failing to persevere when presented with fear, frustration, stress, work, problems, or physical
exertion; likely to condemn activity as a waste of time rather than face the fear that the activities might reveal one's
limitations
Failure to hold others accountable - the fear of being perceived as a rat despite personal consequences; the refusal to "dime"
someone out
Failure to put one's self in another's position - refusing to consider the consequences of one's actions on another person; not
treating people the way you would like to be treated .
Fantasy - thinking about a crime without planning it
Fear - of failure, humiliation, problems, the future, or death; often the impetus for criminal behaviour
Fear of failure - the view that putting forth effort and failing is humiliation; that it is better to not try than to risk failure
Fear of fear - when one does everything within one's power to make oneself and others believe that one is without fear; often
due to having widespread fears of many things
Fear of putdown - the fear of being disrespected or humiliated by others; the fear of being perceived as weak, especially in front
of one's peers; often most prevalent in those who regularly "put down" others in an attempt to build self-esteem
Forming a clique - placing the value of the relationship between oneself and an individual or a group of individuals above that
of self or the team effort; usually due to low self-esteem or to gain a sense of power; usually revolves around some aspect
of criminal pride such as sharing the values of power, intimidation, and criminal excitement
Fragmentation - changing mind constantly, failure to complete a logical, sequential thought pattern- .
Fronting - putting on an act in order to deceive authority; often used in conjunction with "behind the scenes" criminal behaviour
“I can't” attitude - means "I won't"; a refusal to act responsibly; the fear that if others observe one's limitations that it is a put
down
Immediate gratification - the desire to have all wants and needs met instantly; the refusal to do honest work or to have patience
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in order to achieve life goals

Inability to accept one's own advice - offering useful advice to others but not using that advice
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Inability to refuse peer pressure - the belief that what one's peers think is a measure of self-worth; the willingness to do
whatever is necessary to gain acceptance
Intimidation - a primitive coping mechanism utilized to gain respect; a means to achieve a desire or to gain compliance from
someone perceived as being weak; often provides a sense of power
Irresponsible use of accountability - a hypocritical or illogical attempt to condemn a peer or authority figure while ignoring
one's own actions; the thought that something is only justice when it serves personal needs; the "jail-house lawyer"
mentality
Justification - an excuse for unacceptable behaviour
Lack of impulse control - the inability to prevent one's self from acting without considering the consequences; often involving
lying or disrespect
Lack of ownership - the failure to assume responsibility for an action or the lack thereof; usually concerning a crime, failure, or
a task in need of completion.
Lack of responsible initiative - the desire for instant gratification rather than hard work as the means to a goal; looking for the
easy way out
Lack of time perspective - failing to see how actions taken in the present will affect the future; failing to look at the "big
picture"; failing to see how something that seems important in the present will be unimportant in the future
Loner mentality - has many acquaintances but no friends; attachment seen as a weakness; the failure to develop close personal
relationships with others; often a criminal is quick to incriminate a "friend", friendship often defined as someone who is
loyal in supporting one's criminal endeavours.
Lying - utilizing one of the four types: commission (outright lying), omission (skipping certain facts), distortion (twisting the
truth), or exaggeration (blowing facts out of proportion); omission is the most common and is often viewed by delinquents
as not a lie.
Lying by assention - an effort to placate authority, agreeing in. order to get out of a difficult situation; saying that you agree but
thinking otherwise inside; often used to achieve the objective of being released from incarceration
Lying by reaction - lying instantly without considering the truth as a viable option; when lying has become second nature
Lying to impress - lying to gain the admiration of peers, often fantastic and unbelievable; the result of low self-esteem
Manipulation - an exercise in power and control, often a means to achieve a criminal objective despite authority
Materialism - the belief that one's self-worth and reputation are largely dependent upon how much money or how many
material possessions one has; usually linked to criminal pride and used as a status symbol indicating how good a criminal a
person is
Minimization - an effort to make something important not seem important, usually utilized as a tool to manipulate to stay out of
trouble or to justify a behaviour
Misdirected energy - motivated to be involved in criminal behaviour, but not in responsible actions
Monasticism - the belief that one has changed entirely and any effort to redirect him or challenge his beliefs is unwarranted
despite the reality of the situation.
Motive is always the thrust for power - when one is constantly driven to enhance one's self-esteem and position at the cost of
others
Ownership over everything - thinking of public domain and the possessions of others as one's own; that everything is "up for
grabs"
Passive aggressive behavior - a means by which to .maintain control without directly challenging authority
Perfectionism - the desire to perform criminal tasks to a high standard while failing to perform responsible tasks to a high
standard; using one's performance at any given task as a measure of self-worth, which in turn causes an individual to think
that if he is not lithe best" at something that he is not worthwhile; causes one to not try because to not be "the best" is a
blow to one's self-esteem; causes one to be highly critical of others
Poor decision making - usually due to lack of experience and one or more thinking errors
Power thrust - to attempt to gain respect and build self-esteem through bragging, intimidation, or putting down others
Pretense of incognizance- (playing dumb) can take many forms, usually occurs when an individual is being held accountable;
used to deceive or to avoid ownership
Pretentiousness - the belief that one is more important, more knowledgeable, and more experienced than others; the belief that
one is always right; is a result of building self-esteem in a criminal manner
Refusal to be dependent - due to lack of trust and because dependence on others is seen as a weakness
Reliance on others - allowing others to do necessary work while claiming total independence; a way of exploiting others, quite
often people that one cares about; a manifestation of power and control; mistaking kindness for weakness
Religion - taken very literally; used as a temporary coping mechanism, not as a way of life
Romanticism - the belief that crime and deviant behaviour hold a certain sense of adventure that is respected by others; a means
to justify undesirable consequences such as a violent death or imprisonment
Running from the crime seen as demeaning - a manifestation of criminal pride; courage defined as a lack of fear of authority
and the victims of the crime
Satisficing - putting forth only enough effort to keep from receiving consequences; providing just enough information to get out
of a difficult situation, usually associated with vagueness and a feigned uncertainty about certain details
Scheming - planning a crime in detail
Selfishness - the continuous need to place one's own desires and needs before the desires' and needs of others; generosity seen as
weakness
Self-deception - usually associated with lying, when one is so adamant about a lie that he begins to believe it; often due to fear
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of consequences
Sentimentality - the belief that one treats loved ones or certain values with compassion and respect despite the reality of one's
actions; usually associated with family (especially one's mother), the elderly, children, and animals
Sexuality for exploitation - using sex as a means to gain power, self-esteem, and respect, not for sensuality or love
Silence - used to create a mysterious perception of one's self in order to gain respect; sometimes used when confronted by
authority figures to resist treatment or to try to avoid taking ownership for some wrong-doing; a form of power and control;
an extreme method of avoiding disclosure often because of a lack of trust in others and because discussing thoughts and
feelings is considered a weakness
Suggestibility - the degree to which one can be influenced criminally by a variety of sources; delinquents tend to think that they
are entirely independent thinkers though the reality is that they are usually very easily influenced by negative sources,
especially negative peers; a form of selective listening
Super optimism - the belief that one is invincible; the belief that one will not be caught and punished
for one's crimes, and that if one is caught that there will be no penalty, and that if there is a penalty that it will not be severe
Territoriality - the belief that one's reputation and self-worth are largely dependent upon where they came from; the belief that
tougher people come from tougher towns, neighbourhoods, blocks, or streets; automatically identifying someone as a friend
or enemy because of where they come from
Trust seen as a weakness - the belief that trust is a tool used for manipulation and exploitation; fear of being a victim
Uniqueness - the belief that one's thoughts, behaviours, problems, and situation are unlike anyone else's; solutions that work for
others will not work for you
Vagueness- another tactic used to avoid ownership or discussing difficult issues; purposefully omitting
important details of any given situation; associated with lying by omission
Victim stance - the belief that one is a victim rather than the victimizer; a means to displace blame or an excuse to avoid
ownership
Violence - a primitive coping skill seen as an acceptable option for certain situations; defines one's masculinity and/or power;
perceived as a way to gain respect
War Storying - to brag about real or imagined criminal achievements to gain respect or as a way to stimulate criminal
excitement
Zero state- a total lack of self-esteem; a feeling of worthlessness;-there are three parts: 1.view of one's self as nothing
2.transparency - the belief that everyone else views you as nothing 3.permanence - the belief that the zero state will last
forever