Megargee Criminal Personality Typology in Criminological Research: An Update

• NCJ Number: 103180
• Author(s): W Michalek
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 23 pages
• Grant Number(s): 83-IJ-CX-0011
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Presented at the 1986 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Atlanta, Ga.

Annotation

The criminal personality typology developed by Megargee was applied to 581 prison inmates to determine its influence on 5 measures of prison adjustment.

Abstract

Megargee's typology used the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory to establish each inmate's membership in 1 of 10 personality groups. The five measures of adjustment were the disciplinary record, the illness record, and three of Wright's indexes of prison adjustment: perception of comfort, day-to-day coping, and frequency of problems. The 26 independent variables included incarceration characteristics, preincarceration characteristics, organizational factors, and personality. The subjects were inmates at five medium - and maximum - security institutions in New York State. The data analysis used stepwise regression on each dependent variable. Only 262 of the inmates fit the Megargee typology. Fifty-six of these were grouped into a new category: multiple classification. The Megargee variable significantly influenced three dependent variables: coping, comfort, and frequency of problems. Less deviant inmates reported more problems, possibly because of the abnormality of the prison environment. More deviant inmates felt that they were adapting well and had few problems, although they longed for the free world. The large number of cases that could not be classified indicates the need for a change in the variable. Figures, table, and 17 references.