NCJ Number
81210
Journal
Journal of Community Psychology Volume: 38 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1982) Pages: 198-206
Date Published
1982
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Using a sample of 48 white, black, and Hispanic female juvenile delinquents from a suburban San Francisco probation department, this study examined the relationship of ethnicity and socioeconomic status to personality patterns.
Abstract
All female delinquents in the study ranged in age from 13 to 18 years with a median grade level of 10.5, although 44 percent were not attending school. Ethnic composition was 60 percent white, 23 percent Hispanic, and 17 percent black. Over half were from the working class, and only 27 percent lived with both natural parents. Participants were interviewed and given the Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines, the Rorschach, and an intelligence test. Analysis of test profiles revealed four personality patterns: borderline, exhibiting a high level of psychopathy and impaired cognitive processes; antisocial with high levels of aggressiveness and impulsivity; neurotic, characterized by anxieties, phobias, and psychosomatic conditions; and the socialized delinquent who reflected little or no psychopathology and got along well with peers. Comparisons among the four groups showed that white and middle-class delinquents were more likely to be neurotic than nonwhite or lower-class girls. These findings may reflect the influence of different sociocultural patterns of socializations, value systems, and preferred ways of handling impulses and conflict. Levels of psychopathy, sociocultural variations, and economic factors must be considered in referring and treating female juvenile delinquents. Tables and approximately 30 references are included.