RESPONSIVITY OF TWO TYPES OF INSTITUTIONALIZED DELINQUENTS TO SOCIAL REINFORCEMENTS

• NCJ Number: 18898
• Author(s): B N POST
• Date Published: 1968
• Length: 129 pages
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services; National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DISSERTATION - UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

Annotation

A STUDY WHICH INVESTIGATED THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NEUROTIC AND PSEUDO-SOCIAL DELINQUENT GIRLS IN THEIR RESPONSE TO NEGATIVE, POSITIVE, AND NEUTRAL SOCIAL REINFORCEMENT ADMINISTERED BY ADULTS AND PEERS.

Abstract

USING PSYCHOLOGICAL OR PSYCHIATRIC REPORTS, CASE HISTORY MATERIAL, AND GROUP PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS TO DETERMINE THE PRESENCE OR RELATIVE ABSENCE OF NEUROTIC SYMPTOMATOLOGY AND MANIFESTATIONS OF GUILT, 42 GIRLS WERE CLASSIFIED AS NEUROTIC DELINQUENTS, DELINQUENTS WHO EVIDENCED SIGNS OF EMOTIONAL CONFLICT, AND 42 GIRLS WERE CLASSIFIED AS PSEUDO-SOCIAL DELINQUENTS, DELINQUENTS WHO SHOWED LITTLE EMOTIONAL CONFLICT OR GUILT. IT WAS ASSUMED THAT DELINQUENTS WITH LITTLE INNER CONFLICT WERE MORE PSYCHOPATHIC THAN NEUROTIC DELINQUENTS. BASED ON RESEARCH EVIDENCE WHICH SUGGESTED THAT PSYCHOPATHS DO NOT RESPOND TO NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT BUT DO RESPOND TO POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT, IT WAS HYPOTHESIZED THAT (1) PSEUDO-SOCIAL DELINQUENTS WILL RESPOND LESS TO NEGATIVE SOCIAL REINFORCEMENT THAN WILL NEUROTIC DELINQUENTS AND (2) PSEUDO-SOCIAL AND NEUROTIC DELINQUENTS WILL NOT DIFFER IN RESPONSIVITY TO POSITIVE SOCIAL REINFORCEMENT. IN ADDITION TO THE VARIABLES OF TYPE OF DELINQUENT AND TYPE OF REINFORCEMENT, THIS STUDY ALSO INVESTIGATED THE EFFECTS OF TWO DIFFERENT AGENTS OF REINFORCEMENT - THE ADULT AND THE PEER. IT WAS FURTHER HYPOTHESIZED THAT (3) PSEUDO-SOCIAL DELINQUENTS WILL BE MORE RESPONSIVE TO PEERS THAN NEUROTIC DELINQUENTS AND (4) NEUROTIC DELINQUENTS WILL BE MORE RESPONSIVE TO ADULTS THAN WILL PSEUDO-SOCIAL DELINQUENTS. SUBJECTS WERE GIVEN A TIMED TASK AND REINFORCEMENTS WERE ADMINISTERED OVER A SPEAKER. AS MEASURED BY THE SPEED OF THE TASK THE RESULTS CONFIRMED HYPOTHESES 1 AND 2. HYPOTHESES 3 AND 4 WERE NOT CONFIRMED. IT WAS THUS CONCLUDED THAT PSEUDO-SOCIAL DELINQUENTS ARE RELATIVELY UNRESPONSIVE TO NEGATIVE SOCIAL REINFORCEMENT, WHILE NEUROTIC DELINQUENTS DO RESPOND TO NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT BY INCREASING MOTIVATION. A SELF ESTEEM TEST WAS ALSO ADMINISTERED, AND RESULTS OF THAT TEST IN RELATION TO DELINQUENT TYPE AND ADULT AND PEER ADMINISTRATION OF REINFORCEMENT ARE DISCUSSED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)