PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF DEATH-ROW PRISON INMATES

• NCJ Number: 46383
• Journal: Journal of Clinical Psychology Volume: 32 Issue: 2 Dated: (APRIL 1976) Pages: 306-309
• Author(s): J H PANTON
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 4 pages
• Corporate Author: Clinical Psychology Publishing Co
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THIS IS THE REPORT OF A STATISTICAL EVALUATION OF 51 MALES ON DEATH ROW SENTENCED BY THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA TO DEATH BY ASPHYXIATION.

Abstract

RECENT CHANGES IN THE NORTH CAROLINA LEGAL STATUTES HAVE LED TO A CONCENTRATION OF 51 INMATES IN ONE AREA, SUBJECT TO THE SAME STRUCTURED ENVIRONMENT, AND THUS AVAILABLE FOR TESTING IN A UNIFORMLY CONTROLLED SITUATION. OF THE 51 INMATES, 48 WERE ADMINISTERED THE MINNESOTA MULTIPHASIC PERSONALITY INVENTORY (MMPI). NO ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO CONTROL AGE, INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT (IQ), OR EDUCATION; HOWEVER, THESE VARIABLES WERE COMPUTED AND THEIR FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS WERE COMPARED TO THE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS OF LIKE VARIABLES ON A BASELINE INMATE POPULATION SAMPLE OF 2,551 MALE INMATES. ELEVEN OF THE MEN WERE CONVICTED OF RAPE, 21 OF FIRST-DEGREE MURDER AND 2 OF FIRST-DEGREE BURGLARY. MEAN MMPI PROFILES WERE COMPARED FOR THE MURDER AND RAPE GROUP FOR POSSIBLE MEAN SCALE DIFFERENCES ASSOCIATED WITH CRIME TYPE. NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT MEAN SCORE DIFFERENCES APPEARED BETWEEN THE RAPE AND MURDER GROUPS FOR ANY OF THE MMPI VALIDITY OR CLINICAL SCALES. THE RAPE AND MURDER GROUPS WERE THEN REASSEMBLED WITH THE 2 BURGLARY CASES INTO 1 DEATH-ROW SAMPLE OF 34 INMATES. FURTHER EVALAUATION OF THE SAMPLE WAS MADE BY USE OF SELECTED MMPI SUBSCALES AND ADDITIONAL SCALES THAT ARE EMPLOYED ROUTINELY IN CLASSIFICATION AND DIAGNOSTIC SERVICES WITHIN THE NORTH CAROLINA CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM. THESE RESULTS INDICATE NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN MEAN AGE AND IQ SCORES; HOWEVER, THERE APPEARS TO BE A SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER AVERAGE EDUCATION FOR MEMBERS OF THE DEATH-ROW SAMPLE. THE RESULTS APPEAR TO REFUTE THE OFTEN-STATED BELIEF THAT PERSONS CONVICTED OF CAPITAL CRIMES ARE USUALLY MORE INTELLECTUALLY AND EDUCATIONALLY DEPRIVED THEN INDIVIDUALS CONVICTED OF OTHER FELON-TYPE CRIMES. A BREAKDOWN OF SUBSCALE TABULAR DATA IS PROVIDED, AS ARE SELECTED REFERENCES. (KBL)