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Description: Although crime rates have been decreasing for a number of years, crime continues to be an important problem both economically and socially. An emerging factor is the need to house an increasing number of female offenders. Although the amount of crime committed by women has increased in the last forty years, little research has been conducted with this population. The Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), a self-report personality inventory developed by Auke Tellegen, is a relatively new means of psychologically examining populations of interest. The MPQ measures eleven personality traits and three higher order factors. Thirty-two violent and 23 nonviolent women inmates at the Louisiana Correctional Institution for Women were administered the MPQ. A discriminant function analysis using the primary trait measures accurately classified 81.8% of the women. Thus the MPQ would seem a promising tool to use in the further study of this and possibly other criminal groups.
Suggested Citation:
Kenna, C. E., & Burstein, A. G. (2005). Tellegen's Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire in Violent and Nonviolent Women Criminals [Electronic Version]. Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice,
1(2), 110-137.
Keywords: tellegen's, personality questionnaire, women criminals
Date: Sep 16, 2005 | File Size: 165.25 Kb | Downloads: 3706