INCIDENCE OF LEARNING DISABILITIES IN JUVENILE DELINQUENTS AND NONDELINQUENTS - IMPLICATIONS FOR ETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT

• NCJ Number: 46748
• Author(s): A BERMAN
• Date Published: 1975
• Length: 8 pages
• Sale Source: Eric Document Reproduction Service; National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: PAPER PRESENTED AT THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF LEARNING DISABILITIES, SECOND INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, JANUARY 3-7, 1975

Annotation

THE HYPOTHESIS THAT EARLY UNDIAGNOSED LEARNING DISABILITIES ARE A SIGNIFICANT CAUSE OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR WAS TESTED AT A RHODE ISLAND TRAINING SCHOOL.

Abstract

A MAJOR ASSUMPTION OF THE PROJECT WAS THAT DELINQUENCY RESULTS FROM FAILURE TO DETECT SKILL DEFICITS WHICH PREDISPOSE CERTAIN CHILDREN TO FAILURE IN SCHOOL AND IN LIFE. EEFFECTIVE REHABILITATION CAN OCCUR ONLY AFTER ACCURATE DIAGNOSTIC INFORMATION DETERMINES THE CAUSE OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR. WITH THAT PURPOSE IN MIND, A RANDOM SELECTION OF AN UNSTATED POPULATION OF HALF OF THE NEWLY ADMITTED BOYS AT THE TRAINING SCHOOL WERE ADMINISTERED THE HALSTEAD-REITAN BATTERY OF MEASURES, INCLUDING THE WECHSLER INTELLIGENCE SCALE, THE PERFORMANCE INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT (I.Q.), THE WIDE RANGE ACHIEVEMENT TEST, AND TESTS OF SENSORY IMPERCEPTION. RESULTS OF THE NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS WERE COMPARED TO A NONDELINQUENT CONTROL GROUP MATCHED FOR AGE, INTELLIGENCE, AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS. THE DELINQUENTS PERFORMED WORSE ON NEARLY ALL MEASURES OF WECHSLER'S PSYCHOMETRIC INTELLIGENCE AND ON ALL OF HALSTEAD'S TESTS AND ON BOTH PARTS A AND B OF THE TRAILMAKING TEST. THE RHYTHM AND FINGER OSCILLATION TESTS WERE THE ONLY EXCEPTIONS. THE EXAMINATION OF SENSORY IMPERCEPTION FAILED TO YIELD SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE DELINQUENTS AND THE CONTROLS. ALTHOUGH IN BOTH GROUPS THE DISPARITY OF VERBAL AND PERFORMANCE I.Q. FAVORED THE PERFORMANCE VALUE, THIS DIFFERENCE WAS SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER IN THE DELINQUENT GROUP. THE DATA WERE ALSO SUBJECTED TO DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS. THE 5 NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS WERE FOUND TO DISCRIMINATE SIGNIFICANTLY BETWEEN DELINQUENT AND NONDELINQUENT GROUPS, WITH 87 PERCENT OF THE DELINQUENTS AND 78 PERCENT OF THE CONTROLS BEING CORRECTLY CLASSIFIED. ALTHOUGH SOME MINIMAL OVERLAP BETWEEN DELINQUENTS AND THEIR CONTROLS EXISTS, IT IS CLEAR THAT THE LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE AND THE PATTERNING OF ABILITIES AND DEFICITS IS MARKEDLY DIFFERENT FOR THE TWO GROUPS. THE STRONGEST INDIVIDUAL PREDICTORS WERE THE PERFORMANCE I.Q. AND THE IMPAIRMENT INDEX, FOLLOWED CLOSELY BY THE VERBAL I.Q. REFERENCES ARE CITED. (DJM)