NCJ Number
197980
Journal
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 35 Issue: 2 Dated: 2002 Pages: 19-29
Date Published
2002
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the personality profiles of incarcerated female substance abusers.
Abstract
A growing need has emerged to assess offenders’ psychological functioning and amenability for treatment. Classifying offenders into groups may increase the cost efficiency of remediation efforts. An important step in tailoring treatment to the individual client’s needs is personality assessment. One of the diagnostic tools used to assess personality structure is the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-3rd Edition (MCMI-III), which is used to evaluate both clinical and personality disorders. It consists of 175 items that are scored on 28 scales, 14 of which measure personality functioning. No studies can be found involving MCMI-III assessment of personality styles in incarcerated females. Two hundred and ten females incarcerated in a county correctional facility were assessed from September 1997 to June 1999. Each subject completed the MCMI-III as part of a comprehensive assessment battery. The three personality clusters obtained (normal, narcissistic, and antisocial) were consistent with clusters found in previous research. Narcissistic and antisocial personality features were found in most MCMI cluster analysis studies conducted with male inmates and drug-dependent patients. Results show that 48 percent of subjects fell into the antisocial cluster and 26 percent into the narcissistic. The prevalence for narcissistic personality disorder appeared higher in this sample than in other studies with similar subject populations. Other personality features, such as passive-aggressive, borderline, histrionic, and dependent, previously found with male substance abusing and inmate samples were not obtained. Future studies should address the disparities in treatment outcome for personality disordered female offenders. It would be valuable to ascertain how personality-disordered and non-personality disordered females differ in the benefits they receive from individual or group therapy. This would facilitate program development and refinement for female inmates, and allow for improved decision-making concerning allocation of limited clinical resources. 1 figure, 33 references