ONO NAOHIRO

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The Characteristic MMPI Profile Patterns of Youthful Japanese Delinquents

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The Characteristic MMPI Profile Patterns ofYouthful Japanese Delinquents著者 ONO  NAOHIROjournal orpublication titleTohoku psychologica foliavolume 39page range 105-112year 1981-03-21URL http://hdl.handle.net/10097/63940Tohoku Psychologica Folia 1980, 39 (1--4), 105-112 THE CHARACTERISTIC MMPI PROFILE PATTERNS OF YOUTHFUL JAPANESE DELINQUENTS By NAOHIRO 0 N 0 ('N!1[l[}:t)l (Tohoku University) The main MMPI code classes we got from Japanese delinquent youngsters were 43, 46,4-,42 and 49 (1969), while in the Minnesota survey (1953) American juvenile delin-quents provided codes 49, 46 and 48 as typical patterns_ It is assumed that delinquent boys in Japan might be less aggressive and hostile in character than those in America, since codes 43 or 42 were likely to represent more passive personality features than codes 49 or 48. In order to examine that assumption, the present study was conducted with the similar procedure at an interval of a decade. Some of the facts obtained seems to support the assumption. (1) As the highest-point code, 4 is alone in higher frequency than the previous one, while 9 is in lower. (2) In percentage of two-point codes occurrence, 4- and 41 are both larger than the previous ones, and none is smaller. (3) The mean MMPI profile is coded as 43, but it could be convertible into code 42, if applied to the Minnesota T standard. The converted code 42 covers 41% of cases out of our whole sample. We had no adequate reference book of MMPI in Japan in those days when we at-tempted the previous study (Ono et aI., 1969, 1970). The purpose of our study was to provide a sort of norm to which an individual profile was referrable, especially for the classification of juvenile delinquents. STUDY I METHOD Subjects: The delinquent group consisted of 288 boys (mean age 17.7, SD 1.23) and 64 girls (16.1, SD 1.16). As control groups high school students were served: 277 boys (mean age 17.0, SD 1.39) and 194 girls (16.3, SD .72). Procedure: The Booklet Form MMPI (Japanese version by Abe et aI.) was admin-istered to them. Valid standard fixed on the test scores was as follows: 1<50, L<lO, and F<16. The number of the Ss above were valid ones. Social data for each S were collected from either formal documents available or comments by teachers. 1. Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Letters, Tohoku University, Kawauchi, Sendai, Japan 106 N.Ono RESULTS (1) In the comparisons of MMPI values between these groups (see Table 1), the delinquent boys gave significantly higher scores than the students on almost all clinical scales. The delinquent girls also provided significantly higher points on many scales (D, Pd, Pa and Sc) than the students, while the relation was reverse on scale Si. (2) In the comparison of high-point codes occurrences (see Table 2), it seemed that scales convenient to differentiate delinquents from non-delinquents were D, Pd, Pa and Pt for boys, while Pd and Si (in the reversed driection) for girls. (3) Two-point codes which occurred at high rate (over 5% in each group) were as follows: 9- for boy students; 43 and 46 for delinquent boys; 5- and 9- for girl students; 5-, 4-, 42, 43, 49 and 54 for delinquent girls. Table 1. Means and standard deviations on each MMPI scale for students and delinquent boys Scale 1 __ S_tu_d_e_n_ts--,--(N_=_2_00_) __ Mean SD Delinquents (N =200) Mean SD L 4.65 2.06 1 5.76 2.14*** F 8.23 3.34 10.00 2.83*** K 14.24 4.10 14.55 4.10 Hs 14.68 4.20 15.88 4.22** D 25.36 4.87 27.51 4.41** Hy 23.35 4.71 24.14 5.10 Pd 23.87 3.72 28.91 4.87*** Mf 25.81 3.80 26.35 3.71 Pa 11. 48 3.14 13.15 3.18*** Pt 29.59 5.12 32.06 4.81*** Sc 30.97 5.70 32.64 5.23** Ma 19.30 3.80 19.47 3.67 Si 29.70 9.00 32.08 7.35*** *** p< 0.001, ** p<O.01. Table 2. Percentage of high-point occurrences on each MMPI scale for students and delinquents (T;;;;;55) Scale x-Hs D Hy Pd Mf Pa Pt Sc Ma Si Boys Students \ (N=277) 18.4*** 21. 7 16.2 37.5 22.4 23.8 25.3 21. 7 20.6 37.5 28.5 Delinquen. (N=288) 5.6 35.1*** 31. 6*** 43.1 67.0*** 24.0 45.5*** 37.2 28.1* 38.2 I 24.0 Girls Students I (N=194) 20.6*** 17.0 13.9 22.2 19.1 23.2 15.5 21.1 21.1 30.4 I' 23.7* I Delinquen. (N=64) 3.1 18.8 26.6** 32.8 65.6*** 45.3** 18.8 25.0 29.7 34.3 10.9 MMPI Profile Patterns of Youthful Japanese Delinquents 107 (4) When scale 4 as peak was paired with others, the following combinations were prominent in delinquents: 43, 46, 4-, 42 and 49 for boys; and 4-, 42, 45, 43 and 49 for girls: while they were hardly found among the non-delinquents. DISCUSSION According to Hathaway and Monachesi (1953), when scale 4 is found in combina-tion with scales 3, 8, and especially with 9, the delinquency rate is elevated, while codes 41, 47 or particularly 42 reduce the delinquency rate below the level expected for boys in general. In spite of their conclusions, codes 41, 47 and 42 were popular as well as 43 and 49 in our delinquent samples. It suggests that juvenile delinquents in our country consists of two main components: passive type and moderate aggressive one. And the former seems to be getting a majority by and by. Scale 1, 2, or 3, together with scale 9 having a moderate but negative loading, is respectively known to compose a factor, that is, 'factor R' labeled by Welsh (1956). According to him, it relates to dependence upon mechanisms of denial and rationaliza-tion and to lack of effective self-insight. When scale 4 is in combination with these scales, what effects would be expected? Perhaps two types of behavior will be observed: 4' dominant type and 'R' major. Of course each phenotype should be under the influence of another component, either in the direction to conform to or to offset each other. STUDY II A decade has passed since our previous study was performed. In Japan juvenile delinquency has markedly calmed down since then. Of course the number of offences committed has decreased slightly, but change in quality of them is very prominent. Minor offences such as shoplifting or trafic violation, and dependence on 'sex, speed and intoxication' have been more and more taking place of serious offences, especially of violence. The tendency of juvenile delinquency becoming less aggressive should reflect similar variation in the character of particular offenders. And the variation may be reflected on MMPI profiles, for example, in the form of preponedrance of scale 4's paired with 'factor R'. Thus Study II was attempted in 1979. METHOD Subjects: 150 delinquent boys (mean age 17.8, SD 1.20) are served as Ss in Study II, who are under the same conditions as the delinquent sample of Study I, and who all passed through the valid standard on MMPI validity scales out of 196 boys. Girls were too small in number to serve for comparative study. Procedure: Just the same with the previous ones. 108 N.Ono RESULTS In the comparisons of Sample I (1969) and Sample II (1979), following facts are recognized as significant outcomes of Study II. (1) Mean scale scores (K-corrected): No significant difference is found in any scale scores between the two samples. (2) The first high-point code: Oode 4 is larger, and 9 is smaller in frequency of occurrence in Sample II than Sample I (see Table 3). (3) Two-point code: Only two code classes show significant differences in frequency of occurrence, 4-- and 41, both greater in Sample II (see Table 4). (4) Low-point code: Oode -9 is greater, and -X is smaller in frequency of oc-currence in Sample II. Table 3. Percentage of peak-point code occurrences in Sample I and II. code Sample I Sample II (N=288) (N=150) 1 4.9 8.0 2 4.5 3.3 3 10.4 8.7 4 38.5 52.0* 5 4.5 3.3 6 6.9 5.3 7 4.2 4.7 8 1.7 9 12.5* 6.0 0 6.3 2.7 * p<O.05 Table 4. Percentage of Two-point code occurrences in Sample I and II. code 13 14 31 34 4-41 42 43 46 49 40 Sample I 3.1 3.5 4.9 3.1 4.5 7.6 5.2 4.2 3.1 *** p<O.OOl, ** p<O.Ol DISCUSSION Sample II 3.3 3.3 3.3 12.0*** 7.3** 4.7 8.7 7.3 The result (1) implies that the constructions of the two samples are not different III essentials. In particular, however, certain variations are recognized: Oode 4 MMPI Profile Patterns of Youthful Japanese Delinquents 109 (Psychopathic deviation) is increased, and 9 (Hypomania) decreased. In details of in-creased part of scale 4's we recognize two certain subgroups, that is, code 4- and 41, on which we found following characteristics through Study 1. 4-: rather good-natured; cheerful; restless; weak-willed; following blindly. 41: shallow; inconstant; thoughtless. We can not find definite differences between their implications. In code 41, it may be implied that scale 4 likely is phenotype m this type of combination, while scale 1 is latent. That is, scale 1 (Hypochondriasis) in this code type may reflect situational conditions (e.g. moderate hosptialism) more than basic personality traits. And these passive traits or behaviors would move back when traits of scale 4 arc superior. On this occasion, S's acting-out could not be inhibited effectively. While delinquent boys who provide code 4- have 'relatively simple, cheerful and weak-willed' character. In effect these code types appear to reflect rather 'weak-willed' character than active-aggressive one. According to McMahon (1970), percentage of codes from male North Carolina youthful offenders (N=183) are as follows: the first high-point code, 4(48%), 9(20.2), 8(9.7) and 7(7.0); two-point code, 49 & 94 (24.6%), 42 & 24(13.6), 48 & 84 (7.1), and 47 & 74 (6.5). At a glance one can acknowledge the prevalent occurrence of scales 4 and 9, and dominance of code 49. Psychological phase of code 49 is in rohort, 'clear manifestations of psychophathic behavior', as the hypomania seemingly energizes or activates the pattern related to scale 4 (Dahlstrom et al. 1960). Through Study I we also got the traits of code 49: 'cheerful, restless, flippant, doing without considering the consequences, and doing things by halves'. Being seem-ingly sociable, they are selfish in essentials, not conformable. Therefore, this code occurs often among repeated offenders (Ono et al. 1970). The preponderance of code 49 in McMahon's sample suggests the contrast of qualities between American youthful offenders and Japanese ones. The former in general would be more energetic, rough, impulsive and aggerssive than the latter. There are, however, some problems in cross-cultural comparisons remaining. For one thing, we should use the same common standard of assessement. According to Abe (1969), when personality of normal Japanese is profiled according to the American standard of assessement, it shows much elevated figure. He found out that scales 2, 7 and 8 were much influenced by conversion of norms. Mean MMPI profile of our Sample II is coded as '43-X on the Japanese standard, while it changes to 42'8763150-X on the Minnesota norm (see Fig. 1). Table 5 shows percentage of two-point codes occurrence in Sample II, applied to both norms. Nearly half (41.4%) of our cases are absorbed in codes 42 & 24 on the Minnesota norm. The rate is much greater than the one (13.6%) in McMahon's sample. 110 N.Ono Table 5. Frequencies of two-point codes from Sample II to which applied Japanese T-standard, then Minnesota one. code on Japanese norm on Minnesota norm 13 3.3% 4.0 14 3.3 24 16.7 34 3.3 4- 12.0 41 7.3 42 4.7 24.7 43 8.7 46 7.3 47 3.3 48 4.0 74 3.3 6.7 100 90 80 " " , \ , \ , , , \ .,.--,,'""'\ , ~ " \ /\ -. \.~ v V """-70 60 50 40 30 L F K Hs D By I'd 1\1f I'a I't Sc Ma Si Fig. 1. Variation on mean MMPI profile of Sample II when the T standard is converted: solid line is the profile according to Japanese norm, while broken line is the one on Minnesota norm. STUDY III From the foregoing facts, the author attempted to investigate which norm is more adequate to apply for Japanese youngsters: the American norm or the Japanese one? Procedure is as follows. (1) All Ss with code 42 on the Minnesota norm are picked up from Sample II. (2) They are reclassified according to the Japanese norm to two-point code classes, which result in six or seven categories (codes X-, 4-, 41, 42, 43 and 46). (3) From their records, the adjectives used to describe Ss' personality are taken out and classified into seven categories. These categories come up rather naturally, in the process of arranging the adjectives according to their similarity or seeming MMPI Profile Patterns of Youthful Japanese Delinquents HI relativity. They are denominated as: a) Socially extroverted b) Hysterical c) Aggressive d) Immature e) Weak-willed f) Socially introverted g) Neurotic (4) Category a), for example, consists of the following adjectives: 'easygoing, optimistic; cheerful, bright, lively; flippant, thoughtless; chiming in with' etc. Particular adjective from the description of every S is plotted according to these subcategories. The results are shown in Fig. 2. J.code/ a b c d e g x- X X X X X X X X X X X X 4- X X X XXX X X XX X XX X X X 41 X X X X XX X X Q XX X X X X X X XX X X XX XXX X XX 42 43 X XX X X X X X X X XX X X X XXX X X 46 X X Fig. 2. Distribution of adjectives used to describe Ss who provided code 42 on the Minnesota norm, which is cross-referred with the Japanese norm. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In Fig. 2, adjectives for an individual S are represented with asterisks arranged along a holizontal line. Adjectives describing delinquency are excluded from this analysis, because they are common to Ss as a constant. As they were picked up from 112 N.Ono the records which were written in free style, the vocaburary used is not limited. So it is hard to analyse them statistically. But visually, it shows two facts, that is, (1) some of reclassified codes (on the Japanese norm) present their own characteristics, but (2) another codes (X-, 4- and 46) give a common trait, that is, 'socially extroverted'. Applied to the Minnesota norm alone, the young Japanese delinquents would be described roughly as 'socially extroverted', as in case of code 42. The Minnesota norm of assessement is likely too broad to apply to our samples. Adjectives of Ss with code 42 on the Japanese norm form two small groups, 'hysterical' and 'immature'. They do not fall into 'socially extroverted'. The Japanese norm seems to be better suited for Japanese populations. REFERENCES Abe, M. 1969 The Japanese MMPI and its Delinquency Scale. Tohoku Psychol. Folia, 28 (1-2), 54-68. Dahlstrom, W.G. & Welsh, G.S. 1960 An MMPI handbook: a guide to use in clinical practice and research. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Hathaway, S.R., & Monachesi, E.D., eds. 1953 Analyzing and predicting juvenile delinquency with the MMPI. Minneapolis: Univ. Minnesota Press. McMahon, R. 1970 MMPI profiles from a smaple of North Carolina youth offenders. In W.G. Dahlstrom, G.S. Welsh, & L.E. Dahlstrom, eds. An MMPI handbook. Vol. 1,446. Ono, N., Kataoka, G., & Shindo, H. 1969 A basic research for MMPI profile interpretition. Part 1: normative data for Japanese youths. Japanese Journal of Criminal Psychol. 6(2), 60-66. (in Japanese) Shindo, H., Ono, N., & Kataoka, G. 1970 A basic research for MMPI profile interpretation. Prt 2: correlation between profile patterns and personality traits. Japanese J. Criminal Psychol., 7(1, 2), 14-20. (in Japanese) Welsh, G.S. 1956 Factor dimensions A and R. In G.S. Welsh & Dahlstrom, W.G., eds. Basic readings on the MMPI in psychology and medicine. Minneapolis: Univ. Minnesota Press. (Received October 31, 1980) 

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The Characteristic MMPI Profile Patterns of Youthful Japanese Delinquents

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