NCJ Number
72644
Date Published
1977
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This study examined the differences between various types of criminal behavior with regard to certain personality dimensions.
Abstract
It hypothesized that personality factors which would tend to dispose indivduals toward one type of antisocial behavior would not necessarily dispose them toward another, and that these disposing factors may be reflected in subjects' personality test scores. Subjects consisted of 751 adult male felons in a maximum security State prison in Virgina. The Eysenck Personality Inventory, which measure extraversion-introversion, neuroticism-stability, and includes a lie scale, was used to determine subjects' personality traits. Offenses were divided into crimes against persons, crimes against property, and crimes against the morals of the State. Both Inventory and offense data were available for 617 subjects. Two very low but significant correlations were found; a slight negative association suggested that those who were convicted of a crime against persons may score toward the introversion side of the extraversion-introversion scale, and a slight positive association suggested that these types of sujects tended more toward lying. The lack of strong associations seems to indicate that the study variables do not contribute highly to some differential in actual criminal behavior. The fact that the study variables purportedly measure emotional behavior yet were not found to be strongly associated with type of offense, may be viewed as congruent with psychodynamic theories of criminal behavior. According to these theories, the nature of the particular antisocial act offers no indication of the personality structure of the individual. The act is merely a symptom of some intrapsychic conflict. However, the results should be considered as only suggestive of potential future findings. Related literature is reviewed. Data tables, a graph, and 33 references are included.