NCJ Number
76395
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1981) Pages: 39-47
Date Published
1981
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study examines the modal profiles from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) which can be derived from a male juvenile delinquent population and their relationship to subjects' race and age.
Abstract
The MMPI results obtained from a sample of 245 adolescent males referred to the evaluation unit of a juvenile court were submitted to a multivariate classification system. The data were entered in the form of T scores computed from the means and standard deviations developed for adolescents in earlier research. The procedure involved a Q-factor analysis of a double-centered matrix to product modal profiles determined by profile shape. By correlating individual subject profiles with modal profiles, six membership groups were formed. The cross products were then submitted to a second-Q-factor analysis to produce subgroups based on elevation and scatter parameters. The expected subgroups were not found; there was no relationship between group membership and subject age or race. The failure of age to be related to modal profile membership was the result of using adolescent norms to compute T-scores. The failure of race to develop a relationship indicated that the modal profile groups had similar distributions in the black and white delinquent groups referred for evaluation. Tabular data and 20 references are provided. (Author abstract modified)