Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1962. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-91).

An exploratory study was conducted among inmates of a Canadian penitentiary to determine MMPI characteristics associated with chronic criminality. A criterion group of chronic offenders was compared to a randomly derived group, and significant differences were obtained on three MMPI scales. These differences ceased to become significant in deriving subgroups and applying covariate adjustments in attempting to control for the influence of differences in age and incarceration. Reduction in sample sizes appeared to contribute towards the absence of significant differences among five scales which appeared to differentiate Ss who had low incarceration indices, compared to Ss who had high incarceration indices. Although trends were suggested which may relate to chronic criminality, the incidence of violence appeared to follow a similar trend. In the absence of statistical control, no conclusions were drawn regarding the trends in the scales. The MMPI profile characteristics of the present groups were compared to other criteria groups of psychiatric and prison subjects and the relationships of various scales were examined. Criminal and social characteristics were explored, and Chronic Offenders were found to differ in criminal patterns, place of childhood residence, education, marital status, and employability. Difficulties in the present study were explored and suggestions made for further research. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The definition of the situation is important to observers in everyday social interaction. From the identity of the social actor, the observer attempts to fill in details about the situation. From this "going beyond the information given", the observer defines the situation. The definition then allows the observer to make predictions about the social actor and the situation. Going beyond the information given is referred to as a situational construal (Dunning 1989). The individual forms a concrete image of the situation, resolving ambiguities through construals. However, a still unanswered question has remained: What determines the construals? In this study, affect and construals are linked together. Through the identity of the actor, affect can be linked to expectations, which are used to fill in information. Affect control theory is one theory linking affect to other elements of the situation, such as the relationships between identity, behavior and emotion. The observer has stored knowledge linking identities with affective meanings that generate role behaviors in specific situations, associating identity with specific behavioral expectations. Emotion displays assist the observer in inferring the identities of social actors. One specific situation in which affect and construals are evident is the criminal situation. The criminal situation has ambiguities for which decisions must be made by various observers throughout the criminal justice process. In this study, affect control theory's application to the criminal justice system focuses on inferences made during a probation officer's presentence report, specifically the recommended sentence. Probation officers and undergraduate students respond to vignettes of a criminal situation. In Study 1, undergraduates, after reading a presentence report with criminal and victim statements, assign punishment and answer questions regarding the criminal case. Study 2 replicates Study 1 with probation officers. Study 3 further tests the influence of knowledge structures on construals. Results demonstrate a link between identity and construals. Results answer questions about how the probation officer resolves ambiguities in reaching a recommended sentence. The influence of various knowledge structures is also demonstrated. The cognitive process model applied to the probation officers and the students can be generalized to observers of other situations. One explanation of situational construal is demonstrated.

Thesis -- University of Florida. / Manuscript copy. Vita. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: leaves 71-75.

Thesis (M.S.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 2009. / Thesis advisor: Raymond Chip Tafrate. "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Criminal Justice." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 32-36). Also available via the World Wide Web.

This dissertation has three main parts. In the first part, the construct of psychopathy is described, its theoretical relevance for predicting recidivism is examined, and the literature on The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 1980, 1991) and recidivism is briefly reviewed. The association between psychopathy and recidivism (general, violent) was examined in five samples (N > 800 inmates) of provincial and federal male inmates who were incarcerated in British Columbia between 1964 and 1995. Results were consistent across samples and across measures and indicated that psychopathy was positively associated with recidivism. These findings indicate that psychopathy is important for identifying inmates who are at risk to be reconvicted. In the second part of the dissertation, a comprehensive and empirically-based set of crime categories was developed. Crimes were sorted into 200 descriptive categories and then collapsed into broader categories using frequency counts and factor analysis. Results indicated that the four most frequently occurring crime categories (break and enter, fraud, theft, possession of illegal property) accounted for more than half of all convictions, whereas the remaining 25 crime categories accountedfor less than half of all convictions. In the third part of the dissertation, PCL-R scores, frequency counts for the crime categories, and basic demographic variables, were entered into a stepwise discriminant function analysis to predict general recidivism (yes, no) and into another discriminant function analysis to predict violent recidivism. The percentage of general recidivists who were correctly classified (81.3%) was similar in magnitude to the base rate of general recidivism (81.1%). In terms of violent recidivism, five variables (PCL-R scores, two age variables, previous convictions for robbery and for assault) emerged as important predictors. Scores on each of these five predictors were assigned weights, and the weights were summed together to form a violence risk score. Higher scores on the violence risk scale identified inmates who were at higher risk to be convicted of violent recidivism. Scores on the risk instrument correctly classified 62.2% of inmates into violent (yes, no) recidivism groups. These results held-up under cross-validation; in an independent sample of 124 inmates, 64.5% of inmates were correctly classified. The findings indicate that the violence risk scale has promise as a measure for identifying inmates who are at risk to be convicted of future violence.

Thesis (MPsych(Clin))--University of South Australia, 1998

Thesis (Honours Equivalent)--University of Newcastle, 1974. / Department of Psychology. Also available online.

Thesis (D.Psych.)(Forensic)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Psychology and Dept. of Criminology, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 159-176).

Thesis (M.S.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 2008. / Thesis advisor: Damon Mitchell. "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Criminal Justice." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 24-27). Also available via the World Wide Web.