Criminal recidivism predicted from narratives of violent juvenile delinquents.

Youth violence poses a major public health problem. It is important to find treatable predictors of recidivism. Our Subjects had committed offenses of physical and sexual assault. The personality dimensions of restraint and distress were rated by two independent and blind raters from narratives of offender's committing offenses, which were obtained at baseline during incarceration. Inter and intrarater kappas for each narrative were significant. In a 10-13 year follow-up, subjects lowest in self- restraint had significantly higher recidivism and their reoffenses differed in quality. Restraint may be influenced by clinical intervention and constitutes a new target in the treatment of delinquents.

A comparison between the Weinberger Adjustment Inventory and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory with incarcerated adolescent males.

Empirical work on psychopathology and delinquency requires concise and specific instruments. The Weinberger Adjustment Inventory (WAI), was correlated with the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) using a sample of incarcerated adolescent males (N = 178). The distress dimension of the WAI was significantly and positively associated with scales 2, 4 and 7 of the MMPI. The restraint dimension was significantly and positively associated with the Lie and K scales of the MMPI. Distress and restraint were distinct dimensions. The WAI may be a brief and helpful personality measure, determining responses to conflict and subjective stress in delinquents with poor reading skills and other special education impairments. The length of the WAI makes it especially suitable for populations such as incarcerated adolescent males who exhibit short attention spans and frequent episodes of noncompliant and resistant behavior.