Another Look at the Use of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory as an Index to 'Escapism'

• NCJ Number: 77458
• Journal: Journal of Critical Psychology Volume: 32 Issue: 3 Dated: (July 1976) Pages: 580-582
• Author(s): T C Adams; J E West
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 3 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Results are reported from a reevaluation of Beall and Panton's Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) inmate escape scale on what presumably would be a more appropriate escapee sample than that used in previous studies.

Abstract

Beall and Panton determined that 42 statements from the MMPI are able to differentiate between State prison escapees and the 'good' custody risks. This index to escapism currently is included in the evaluation of all prisoners admitted to the North Carolina prison system. The reliability of this escape scale was recently reinvestigated and still proved to be an effective discriminator between escapees and nonescapees. The subjects for the experimental groups in both of these studies, however, were felon escapees from medium-custody and close-custody facilities. North Carolina assigns honor-grade felons and misdemeanant prisoners to minimum security prison units, which are plagued by the worst escape problems. The mounting minimum custody escape problems in North Carolina indicate a need for a better predictor of the likelihood of escape. In the current study, 100 male State prison inmates selected at random served as subjects for the initial phase of the study. A total of 60 randomly selected prisoners were subjects in a followup effort to help ensure against drawing conclusions based on chance differences. From a review of monthly area escape reports, 50 escaped prisoners from minimum security were selected and served as the experimental group. During this same period, 50 nonescapees were selected randomly to compose the control group. The inmates had been administered the booklet form of the MMPI at the time of their processing into the prison system. Results indicate that Beall and Panton's escape scale is inappropriate to measure the propensity for escape among prisoners in minimum custody units. Based upon further analysis, the MMPI may still prove to be a valid source for a new escape scale. Social background data may be useful in supplementing an MMPI escape predictor. Tabular data and five references are provided.