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PSYCHOMETRIC CORRELATES WITHIN A YOUTHFUL OFFENDER POPULATION

NCJ Number
18894
Author(s)
D A HEIBERG
Date Published
1968
Length
126 pages
Annotation
AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RATED BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES OF THE MINNESOTA MULTIPHASIC INVENTORY (MMPI) AND THE KUDER VOCATIONAL PREFERENCE RECORD SCALES WITHIN A CORRECTIONAL POPULATION OF YOUTHFUL OFFENDERS IN MINNESOTA.
Abstract
TO PROVIDE CRITERION DATA, THREE RATING SCALES WERE USED. THE FIRST OF THESE WAS A REVISED VERSION OF PETERSON'S PROBLEM CHECK LIST. TWO OTHERS WERE DEVELOPED AT THE MINNESOTA RECEPTION AND DIAGNOSTIC CENTER FROM FILE MATERIAL. ONE OF THESE, THE CASEWORKER'S RATING SCALE, CONTAINING ITEMS OF AN INFERENTIAL NATURE, WAS FOR THE USE OF CASEWORKERS AND THIS INVESTIGATOR. THE OTHER, THE GROUP LIVING RATING SCALE, WAS USED BY DORMITORY COUNSELORS, WHO ALSO RATED THE SUBJECTS ON THE PROBLEM CHECK LIST. CORRELATIONAL ANALYSIS OF TEST SCORES AND RATING SCALE FACTOR SCORES REVEALED THAT THERE WAS LITTLE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEST SCORES AND COUNSELORS' BEHAVIORAL RATINGS, BUT A NUMBER OF STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE CASEWORKER'S MORE INFERENTIAL RATINGS. IN GENERAL, MULTIPHASIC SCALES WERE MODERATELY CORRELATED WITH THE MAJOR CASEWORKER RATING FACTORS WITH THE APPROPRIATE AND PREDICTED MMPI SCALES FUNCTIONING AS ANTICIPATED. THESE RELATIONSHIPS SUGGESTED NEITHER EQUIVALENCE NOR INDEPENDENCE OF MMPI SCORES AND RATING DATA, AND IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THE CASEWORKER'S RATINGS, WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THEIR RELIABILITY, WOULD ADD TO THE ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES AT MRDC. THE KUDER SCALES, WHILE NOT UNRELATED TO THE RATING DATA, DID NOT TO ANY APPRECIABLE EXTENT ADD TO THE PREDICTIVE POWER OF THE MMPI. ONE IMPLICATION OF THIS STUDY IS THAT THE MMPI RETAINS A MEANINGFUL DEGREE OF USEFUL DISCRIMINATORY POWER, IN SPITE OF THE RESTRICTED AND HOMOGENEOUS NATURE OF THE SAMPLE OF CORRECTIONAL CASES. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)