NCJ Number
80435
Journal
Canadian Journal of Psychiatry Volume: 26 Issue: 8 Dated: (December 1981) Pages: 549-554
Date Published
1981
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This study is a retrospective comparison of the psychological test findings within four groups, including 61 murderers, 42 assaulters, 71 perpetrators of theft, and 24 unemployed non-criminal controls.
Abstract
Psychological test findings did not discriminate very well among these groups. Some purported hostility scales, such as the Elizur Hostility Scale, the DeVos Hostility Scale, and Megargee's Overcontrolled-Hostility Scale, did not discriminate at all. The 16 Personality-Factor Questionnaire was particularly unhelpful, rating all four groups as having above-average emotional stability. One must conclude that individual psychological test factors are of little value in predicting violent behavior. Further research is being undertaken to separate the murder group into motivational sub-categories. (Publisher's abstract)