First prison admissions with juvenile histories and absolute first offenders: Frequencies and MMPI profiles
✍ Scribed by John J. Flanagan; George R. Lewis
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1974
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 193 KB
- Volume
- 30
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0021-9762
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Lniversity of Wisconsin
IIlinois Dppartncent of Corwciions PROBLEM This paper considers two questions: (1) of the men who are serving their first prison sentences (first "termers"), what proportion have prior histories as adjudicated juvenile offenders; and (2) of the first "termers," how do the AlAlPI profiles of those with prior histories as adjudicated juvenile offenders compare to the AMPI profiles of absolute first offenders (first adjudicated offense). There is a main study and a short replication study.
Sutherland and Cressey(6* p . 272) question the popular assumption that "problem children become delinquent children, and delinquent children become criminal adults. While there is some possibility that this is true, it has not been adequately demonstrated."
This theoretical assumption has practical consequences. If one assumes that most adult criminals were first adjudicated juvenile offenders, one can argue that treatment resources should be concentrated a t an early stage of the process. For example, the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice(4) supports this position on the basis of this assumption.
The second purpose is to compare the AIXPI profiles of two subgroups of first offenders known to differ on degree of criminality'"'. Many studies have shown that AIXPI profiles are related to degrees of criminality in that those who are serving their first prison sentences present MMPI profiles that are different from the AIAIPI profiles of recidivists('). The present study attempts t o further this line of research.