HOSTILITY AND IMPULSIVITY IN NORMAL AND DELINQUENT RORSCHACH RESPONSES (FROM MENTAL HEALTH IN CHILDREN, V 2, 1976 BY D V SIVA SANKAR)

• NCJ Number: 46592
• Author(s): E OSTROV; D OFFER; R C MAROHN
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 13 pages
• Grant Number(s): A70-15
• Sponsoring Agency: Illinois Law Enforcement Cmssn (see Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority)
• Corporate Author: PJD Publications Ltd
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF NORMAL AND DELINQUENT JUVENILES WAS UNDERTAKEN TO EXAMINE POSSIBLE ASSOCATIONS AMONG DELINQUENCY, HOSTILITY, IMPULSIVITY, AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIORS, BASED ON RORSCHACH TEST RESPONSES.

Abstract

THE SAMPLE WAS COMPOSED OF 19 EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED INPATIENT WHITE MALES WHO HAD BEEN CONVICTED OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR AND 36 COMPARABLE NONDELINQUENT MALES FROM 2 PREVIOUS STUDIES. THE CONTROLS EXHIBITED A WIDE RANGE OF IMPULSIVITY SCORES AND REPRESENTED A VARIETY OF PERSONALITY TYPES. USING THE DELINQUENTS' RORSCHACH RECORDS, ELIZUR HOSTILITY RATINGS WERE OBTAINED. SUM COLOR PERCENT (COLOR REACTIVITY) ON THE RORSCHACH, SCALED BY THE METHOD RECOMMENDED BY HAGGARD (1973), WAS USED A A MEASURE OF IMPULSIVITY. WEIGHTED SCORES ON THE BEHAVIOR CHECK LIST WERE USED TO REFLECT INDIVIDUAL OVERT VIOLENT AND NONVIOLENT ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR WHILE HOSPITALIZED. MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE AND MULTIPLE REGRESSION TECHNIQUES WERE USED TO EVALUATE DATA. IT WAS FOUND THAT HOSTILITY SCORES CORRELATED CLOSELY WITH THE DEGREE OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR. THE DELINQUENTS HAD SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER HOSTILITY SCORES THAN THE COMBINED NORMAL SAMPLES, AND HOSTILITY SCORES FOR NORMAL GROUPS WERE NOT SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT FROM ONE ANOTHER. FURTHER, WHEN THE EFFECTS OF SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT, AGE, AND NUMBER OF RORSCHACH RESPONSES WERE ELIMINATED, HOSTILITY SCORES ACCOUNTED FOR A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT PROPORTION OF VARIANCE IN VIOLENT AND NONVIOLENT INPATIENT ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR OVER A 13-WEEK BASELINE PERIOD. SUM COLOR PERCENT SCORES WERE NOT SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER FOR THE DELINQUENT GROUP THAN FOR THE COMBINED NORMAL GROUPS, ALTHOUGH THE CORRELATION BETWEEN HOSTILITY SCORES AND SUM COLOR PERCENT SCORES WAS HIGHEST FOR THE DELINQUENT GROUP. RESULTS SUGGEST THAT HOSTILITY LEVEL SCORES HAVE PREDICTIVE VALUE FOR OVERT AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR. FURTHER, THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONCEPT OF HOSTILITY LEVEL APPEARS TO BE RELEVANT TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF SOME DELINQUENT BEHAVIORS. CONTRARY TO EXPECTATIONS, REACTIVITY TO COLOR DOES NOT SEEM TO BE RELEVANT TO OVERTLY AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR IN NONDELINQUENTS, DESPITE ITS CORRELATION WITH HOSTILITY LEVEL (WHICH IS REFLECTIVE OF AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR IN THE DELINQUENT GROUP). DIFFERENCES IN HOSTILITY LEVELS AND POSSIBLY IN EGO AND SUPER-EGO STRENGTHS MAY BE RELATED TO LACK OF CORRELATION BETWEEN HOSTILITY LEVEL AND MEASURED IMPULSIVITY IN THE NONDELINQUENT GROUPS. REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (JAP)