PROSPECTIVE STUDY OF PREDICTORS OF CRIMINALITY, 3 ELECTRODERMAL RESPONSE PATTERNS (FROM BIOSOCIAL BASES OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR, 1977, BY SARNOFF A MEDNICK AND KARL O CHRISTIANSEN - SEE NCJ-47285)

• NCJ Number: 47295
• Author(s): J LOEB; S A MEDNICK
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 10 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH 19225; MH 24872; MH 25311
• Sponsoring Agency: Northeastern Family Institute, Inc.
• Corporate Author: Gardner Press, Inc
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE ELECTRODERMAL FUNCTIONING OF SUBJECTS PRIOR TO ANY REGISTERING OF ASOCIAL ACTS IS MEASURED AND THEN CORRELATED WITH ANY DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR SUBSEQUENTLY RECORDED.

Abstract

THE PURPOSES OF THIS STUDY WERE TO ESTABLISH WHETHER ELECTRODERMAL DEVIATIONS FOUND IN CRIMINALS DIAGNOSED AS PSYCHOPATHS ARE PRESENT IN INDIVIDUALS WHO COMMIT RELATIVELY MINOR INFRACTIONS OF THE LAW AND ALSO TO DETERMINE WHETHER THESE ELECTRODERMAL CHARACTERISTICS ARE PRESENT PRIOR TO SOCIETY'S DETECTION AND PUNISHMENT OF THE ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR. IN THIS EXPERIMENT, ONLY THE CONTROL GROUP OF 104 DANISH SUBJECTS FROM A PREVIOUS STUDY IS INCLUDED, THUS ELIMINATING THE CHILDREN OF SCHIZOPHRENIC MOTHERS FROM THE STUDY. IT WAS POSSIBLE, WITH ONE EXCEPTION, TO TEST SUBJECTS PRIOR TO THE OCCURRENCE OF ANY DELINQUENCY. THE ELECTRODERMAL FUNCTIONING OF THE SUBJECTS WAS DETERMINED THROUGH THE USE OF AN OFFNER-BECKMAN TYPE R DYNOGRAPH. SOME YEARS AFTER THE TESTING, POLICE REPORTS ON THE SUBJECTS WERE CHECKED WHEN THOSE PREVIOUSLY TESTED REACHED THE AGE OF 20 TO 29 YEARS. SEVEN BOYS AND NO GIRLS WERE FOUND TO FULFILL THE CRITERION FOR THE DELINQUENT GROUP; THAT IS, THE COMMITMENT OF LEGAL INFRACTIONS THAT LED TO AT LEAST TWO CONVICTIONS. A CONTROL GROUP WHICH HAD NO RECORD OF LEGAL OFFENSES WAS SELECTED FROM THOSE REMAINING IN THE SAMPLE POOL. THEY WERE MATCHED INDIVIDUAL-BY-INDIVIDUAL WITH THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP FOR FOUR VARIABLES IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER: SEX, AGE, SOCIAL CLASS, AND REARING IN CHILDREN'S HOME (AS OPPOSED TO REARING WITH A FAMILY). ALTHOUGH THE NATURE OF THE ASOCIAL ACTS USED TO SELECT THE 'OFFENDER' GROUP WAS RATHER MILD, MODERATE AND STATISTICALLY RELIABLE DIFFERENCES WERE OBSERVED IN THE ELECTRODERMAL ACTIVITY OF THE TWO GROUOPS. THE MILD OFFENDER GROUP (EXAMINED BEFORE THE SUBJECT HAD COMMITTED A REGISTERED OFFENSE) WAS SHOWN TO HAVE THE TYPE OF PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR REPORTED TO BE COMMON IN ALREADY REGISTERED PSYCHOPATHS AND CRIMINALS. THE RELATIONSHIP OF THIS PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL PATTERN TO POOR AVOIDANCE CONDITIONING IS BELIEVED TO SUGGEST THE ROLE THAT AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM FUNCTIONING MIGHT PLAY IN THE ETIOLOGY OF SOME CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR. IT IS NOTED, HOWEVER, THAT THE RESULTS OF THIS STUDY MUST BE VIEWED WITH GREAT CAUTION BECAUSE OF THE VERY SMALL NUMBER OF SUBJECTS INVOLVED. TABLES OF DATA AND RESULTS ARE INCLUDED. FOR RELATED PAPERS, SEE NCJ 47293-47294 AND 47296-47297. (RCB)