In this study the author has undertaken an empirical assessment of O. H. Mowrer's theory of psychopathology applied to a therapeutic community. Mowrer has asserted that much of all psychopathology is rooted in the inability of an individual to successfully assuage the dissonance created by guilt that is justified by prior misbehavior. Accordingly, recovery from psychopathology requires one to extricate oneself from immoral (dissonance-creating) behavior, confess openly to significant others the nature of the misdeeds, and to commit oneself to some form of appropriate restitution which will result in social reintegration for the individual. A detailed review of Mowrer's theory and treatment ideology is presented. Mowrer's rationale has been credited with providing the raison d'etre of the self-help therapeutic community model used for treating drug addicts. / An organizational and psychosocial perspective is presented of Daytop Village, the current research site. The intent of the study was to gather socialization and anxiety data from six groups of subjects (N = 232) selected on the basis of their length of time in treatment at Daytop. Seven dependent measures were selected: trait anxiety (from the STAI); six scales from the CPI; and a constructed variable, Social Maturity Index (SMI), from the CPI scales. SMI was not distinguishable from the So scale in assessing the level of socialization exhibited by the groups. The STAI indicated all subjects were within the normal range of anxiety. The So scale was the sole dependent measure found to be significantly related to the groups. The greatest difference in level of socialization occurred between Groups One and Two. / The data indicate that once the initial impact of the socialization change is made, it is sustained and moderately increases over time. No definite conclusions can be drawn in deciding whether the sociopath, mixed-type personality possesses the characteristics ascribed to it by Mowrer and if it is capable of responding to treatment as predicted by Mowrer. The data do appear to support that aspect of Mowrer's theory that asserts one's level of socialization increases over time while one continues to practice the tenets of Mowrer's theory of social reintegration. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-12, Section: A, page: 5259. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74708 |
| Contributors | ROM-RYMER, JEFFREY R., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 202 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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