NCJ Number
18886
Date Published
1969
Length
76 pages
Annotation
STUDY WHICH HYPOTHESIZED THAT A DELINQUENT POPULATION WOULD DEMONSTRATE LESS ABILITY TO RESTRUCTURE THEIR 'FIELD', FIND NEW MODES OF SOLVING PROBLEMS, AND PERSEVERATE THAN WOULD A NONDELINQUENT POPULATION.
Abstract
ALSO TESTED WAS WHETHER JUVENILE DELINQUENTS, ESPECIALLY RECIDIVISTS, WOULD SHOW A LOWER LEVEL OF EGO STRENGTH OR PERSONALITY FLEXIBILITY. FORTY MALE JUVENILE DELINQUENTS WERE SELECTED FROM THE TOTAL POPULATION OF INMATES AT JUVENILE HALL IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY. THESE WERE GROUPED INTO TWO CATEGORIES, FIRST OFFENDERS AND THIRD OFFENDERS. A COMPARISON GROUP OF FORTY MALE JUVENILES WITH NO ARREST RECORD WAS SELECTED FROM THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY. ALL SUBJECTS WERE EQUATED ON THE BASIS OF AGE, SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, AND I.Q. THE DATA YIELDED SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE GROUPS ONLY IN THE PERFORMANCE TASK AND ONE TEST OF PERCEPTUAL REORGANIZATION - AND IN A NEGATIVE DIRECTION TO THAT HYPOTHESIZED. THE RECIDIVISTS AND FIRST OFFENDERS MADE FEWER PERSEVERATIVE ERRORS ON THE PERFORMANCE TASK THAN DID THE COMPARISON GROUP. ON A TEST OF PERCEPTUAL REORGANIZATION, THE COMPARISON GROUP AND FIRST OFFENDERS MADE HIGHER ERROR SCORES THAN DID THE RECIDIVISTS. THE STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GROUPS ON THESE TWO MEASURES WAS ATTRIBUTED TO THE FACT THAT THE RECIDIVISTS AND FIRST OFFENDERS MADE FEWER ATTEMPTS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM IN THE PERFORMANCE TEST, AND THAT THE RECIDIVISTS EVIDENCED LESS RISK-TAILING BEHAVIOR IN THE TEST OF PERCEPTUAL REORGANIZATION. A 19-PAGE BIBLIOGRAPHY IS PROVIDED. SOME OF THE TESTS USED IN THE STUDY ARE REPRODUCED IN THE APPENDIX. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)