From defiance to reliance: Spiritual virtue as a pathway towards desistence, humility, and recovery among juvenile offenders

This study examined the impact of two "spiritual virtues"-service to others and the spiritual experience of love-on sobriety, character development (humility), and recidivism. We control for conduct disorder and other comorbid conditions, including defiant behaviors. One hundred ninety-five adolescents with substance dependency court-referred to residential treatment were assessed at intake, discharge, and 12 months posttreatment. Higher service to others predicted reduced relapse and greater humility, with or without the experience of spiritual love. Defiance was associated with higher incarceration, but the combination of service and love predicted lower incarceration and mediated the impact of defiance. Survival analysis demonstrated that youths with low service, with or without high love, were more likely to relapse than high helpers with high love. Spiritual virtue appears to be a promising pathway for recovery and desistence, even for youthful offenders deemed the most difficult to rehabilitate.