NCJ Number
223330
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior: An International Journal Volume: 35 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2008 Pages: 725-740
Date Published
June 2008
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study examined the cross-cultural reliability and generality of the offender classification system developed by E.I. Megargee.
Abstract
This study attempted to replicate Megargee’s 1994 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 based types (MMPI-2) in a sample of male Belgian Federal prisoners. Results replicated six types: Delta, Charlie, How, Able, Item, and Easy; types Baker, Foxtrot, George, and Jupiter were not supported. Type Delta was the most common type in a cross-cultural prevalence study among Belgian prisoners and was overrepresented compared to American prevalence data. The clusters supportive of Delta demonstrated a medium to high goodness-of-fit to type Delta’s prototypical profile, and they consistently had the largest number of participants. Charlie and How were the most deviant types and usually required further mental health evaluation. Type Able /Foxtrot were consistently found to be the youngest of the 10 groups. The most benign profile was also supported and demonstrated a high goodness-of-fit to the profile of Megargee’s type Item; type Easy was the smallest of the clusters. Four of Megargee’s types (Jupiter, Baker, George, and Foxtrot) were not replicated in this study. However, another meaningful MMPI-2 type was identified, and labeled 4-6 because Scales 4 and 6 were the two highest scales with a T score of 65 or higher. Data were collected from 1,636 male prisoners incarcerated in 30 Belgian Federal prisons located across the country. Tables, note, references