A comparison of pedophiles and incest offenders on MMPI scales and demographic data

• Main Author: Ladd, Linda Darmer
• Format: Others
• Published: PDXScholar 1985
• Subjects: Child molesters > Psychology; Sex offenders > Psychology; Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory; Personality and Social Contexts
• Online Access: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/3429; https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4433&context=open_access_etds

This study compared one group of pedophiles, two groups of incestuous fathers, and two groups of incestuous stepfathers on their individual MMPI scale scores and self-reported demographic data. Past research on sex offenders has shown that patterns of variables are better indicators of offender typology than single variables. A nonrandom sample of male abusers (N=177) was drawn from two separate sources, a clinic that screens offenders for treatment disposition and an unrelated outpatient treatment clinic in the Portland, Oregon area. Scores from the 13 MMPI scales as well as data from 17 demographic variables were drawn from clinic interviews and intake records of the offenders. The demographic data included age of the offender, educational level, age at first marriage, number of marriages, number of juvenile and adult arrests, number of jobs, number of past inpatient treatment periods, outpatient treatment periods, and incarcerations, alcohol consumption level, recreational drug usage, adoption status, and incidence of foster care, physical, and sexual abuse. Of these variables, several are susceptible to error in self-report, especially alcohol consumption level, which may be subject to the usefulness of a particular report to the offender. Hence, one statistical analysis was made eliminating alcohol consumption level as a variable.