NCJ Number
95295
Journal
Personality and Individual Differences Volume: 5 Issue: 3 Dated: (1984) Pages: 265-271
Date Published
1984
Length
7 pages
Annotation
On first glance, criminals would seem to be a very authority-defiant group -- almost by definition.
Abstract
Yet Adorno and colleagues showed them to be very pro-authority. An F-scale version balance against acquiescence, an Attitude to Authority (AA) scale and a Authoritarianism Behaviour Inventory (ABI) were given to a group of 70 Australian recidivist prisoners in Parratta Gaol. Compared with general population means, they were found not to be especially high scorers on the F scale but to be very anti-authority in attitudes as measured by the Ray AA scale. They also showed lower scores on the ABI -- indicating a non-dominant personality. This latter finding, however, appeared simply a reflection of the generally low occupational status of prisoners. When education was controlled for, prisoners were found to be even more anti-authority than at first appeared (as indexed by AA scale scores). (Author abstract)