PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS DIFFERENTIATING CERTAIN GROUPS OF ABNORNAL OFFENDERS FROM NON-OFFENDERS

• NCJ Number: 44489
• Journal: British Journal of Criminology Volume: 17 Issue: 4 Dated: (OCTOBER 1977) Pages: 310-331
• Author(s): S E HAMPSON; P KLINE
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 22 pages
• Corporate Author: Institute for the Study and Treatment of Delinquency
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

A STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO SEE WHETHER ABNORMAL OFFENDERS COULD BE DIFFERENTIATED FROM NONOFFENDERS ON THE BASIS OF A FACTOR ANALYSIS OF DATA ON PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS ALONE; DIFFERENTIATION WAS POSSIBLE.

Abstract

THE SAMPLE OFFENDER GROUP CONSISTED OF 15 MEN DETAINED IN BRITISH MENTAL HOSPITALS FOR OFFENSES SUCH AS ARSON, INDECENT ASSAULT, ASSAULT, AND THEFT; THEIR AVERAGE AGE WAS 28 YEARS, AND, OF THE 7 FOR WHOM I.Q. SCORES WERE AVAILABLE, ALL WERE BELOW NORMAL. THE NONOFFENDER COMPARISON GROUPS WERE MADE UP OF MEN FROM AN ADULT TRAINING CENTER FOR SUBNORMALS AND MEN FROM A MARINE COMMANDO TRAINING CAMP, NONE OF WHOM HAD CRIMINAL RECORDS. IN ADDITION TO QUESTIONNAIRES, PROJECTIVE TESTS WERE USED TO MEASURE PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS: THEY INCLUDED THE PORTEUS MAZES, THE PINMAN RECALL TEST, THE FAMILY RELATIONS INDICATOR, THE THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST, AND THE HOUSE-TREE-PERSON TEST. THE QUESTIONNAIRES ADMINISTERED TO THE SUBJECTS WERE THE 16PF, THE EYSENCK PERSONALITY INVENTORY, THE EYSENCK-WITHERS PERSONALITY INVENTORY, THE DYNAMIC PERSONALITY INVENTORY, THE SENSATION-SEEKING SCALE, AND THE CONSERVATISM SCALE. FROM THE 450 DICHOTOMOUS VARIABLES RESULTING FROM A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF THE TESTS AND QUESTIONNAIRE INTERVIEWS, 119 VARIABLES DISCRIMINATING AT LEAST 5 SUBJECTS FROM THE REMAINDER OF THE INDIVIDUALS WERE RETAINED AND ANALYZED. THE MAJOR FINDING SHOWS THAT PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS ALONE WERE ABLE TO DIFFERENTIATE TWO SUBGROUPS OF OFFENDERS FROM THE COMPARISON SUBJECTS AND THE REST OF THE OFFENDER SAMPLE. THE TWO OFFENDER SUBGROUP FACTORS WERE IDENTIFIED AS 'SOCIAL INADEQUACY AND AUTHORITARIANISM' AND 'INSECURITY AND AGGRESSION.' THESE SUBGROUPS, HOWEVER, ACCOUNTED FOR ONLY 9 OF THE 15 OFFENDERS; FURTHER STUDY WITH OTHER SAMPLES OF ABNORMAL OFFENDERS IS CALLED FOR. SUPPORTING STATISTICS ARE INCLUDED, THE 119 DICHOTOMOUS VARIABLES ANALYZED ARE APPENDED, AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED.