The records of four groups of incarcerated adolescent offenders (N = 100) were compared for history of being victims of sexual and physical abuse and for the intensity and frequency with which the abuse occurred. The records were also reviewed for indicators of neurological impairment. In addition, the offenders were compared on measures of intelligence and on five scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. / Group membership was determined by the criminal history of each offender. Offenders who had committed crimes involving non-sexual, physical aggression or crimes where a weapon was involved comprised the aggressive offender group. Offenders who had committed nonsexual and physically nonviolent crimes were assigned to the nonaggresive offender group. Two, relatively homogeneous, groups of child molesters were also utilized. One group was comprised of offenders who had molested female children only, while the second group consisted of offenders who had molested either male children or children of both sexes. / Contrary to predictions based on clinical observations and suggested by social learning and psychoanalytic theories, no differences between the groups were found on any of the variables. It is argued that the collected data is consistent with data from previous, uncontrolled studies and that the lack of group differences reflects the actual nature of the severely delinquent sample, regardless of the type of offenses that had been committed. It is suggested that future studies examine antecedent events and the opportunity that is available for the commission of these crimes. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-05, Section: B, page: 2609. / Major Professor: Wallace A. Kennedy. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_78256 |
| Contributors | Benoit, Jeffrey L., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 116 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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