This article applies the technology of psychological classification to explore the effects of personality characteristics on prison adjustments and experiences. Bivariate and multivariate analysis assess the comparative effects of four personality types (committed criminal, neurotic, situational, and character disordered) on official disciplinary infractions, staff ratings of interpersonal behaviors, and self-reports of stress, aggressive behaviors, nonviolent infractions, and victimizations. The effects of other predictors, including age, race, marital status, employment status, prior prison time, prior prison revocations, and sentence length are also considered. Results indicate that inmates who were diagnosed as character disordered and those who had extensive prior prison experiences were more likely than others to have been cited for prison infractions. Young, White inmates and those who had never been revoked during prior sentences were more likely to report victimizing experiences. Inmates most likely to score high on the stress measure were White and neurotic anxious, whereas character-disordered inmates scored atypically low. Finally, older, White, situational inmates were viewed most favorably as staff rated the quality of their interpersonal relationships with other inmates.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Andrews, D. (1982). The level of supervision inventory (LSI). Toronto: Ontario Ministry of Correctional Services.
2.
Andrews, D., & Bonta, J. (in press). The psychology of criminal conduct. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Press.
3.
Andrews, D., & Wormith, J. (1989). Personality and crime: Knowledge destruction and construction in criminology. Justice Quarterly, 6(3), 289-310.
4.
Baird, C., Heinz, R., & Bemus, B. (1979). Project report 14: A two-year follow-up. Milwaukee, WI: Department of Health and Social Services.
5.
Bowker, L. (1980). Prison victimization. New York: Elsevier.
6.
Brown, B., & Spevacek, J. (1971). Disciplinary offenses and offenders at two differing correctional facilities. Correctional Psychiatry and Journal of Social Therapy, 17, 48-56.
7.
Bukstel, L., & Kilmann, P. (1980). Psychological effects of imprisonment on confined individuals. Psychological Bulletin, 88(3), 469-493.
8.
Campbell, D., & Fiske, D. (1959). Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 56, 81-105.
9.
Clemmer, D. (1958). The prison community. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
10.
Feeley, M., & Simon, J. (1992). The new penology: Notes on the emerging strategy of corrections and its implications. Criminology, 30(4), 449-474.
11.
Flanagan, T. (1980). The pains of long-term imprisonment. British Journal of Criminology, 20(1), 148-156.
12.
Flanagan, T. (1983). Correlates of institutional misconduct among state prisoners: A research note. Criminology, 21(1), 29-39.
13.
Gearing, M. (1979). The MMPI as a primary differentiator and predictor of behavior in prison: A methodological critique and review of the recent literature. Psychological Bulletin, 86(5), 929-963.
14.
Gottfredson, D., & Tonry, M. (1987). Prediction and classification: Criminal justice decision-making. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
15.
Gottfredson, D., Wilkins, L., & Hoffman, P. (1978). Guidelines for parole and sentencing. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
16.
Harris, P. (1983). The interpersonal Maturity of delinquents and non-delinquents. In W. S. Laufer & J. M. Day (Eds.), Personality theory, moral development, and criminal behavior. Lexington: Lexington Books.
17.
Harris, P. (1988). The Interpersonal Maturity Level Classification System: I-level. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 15(1), 58-77.
18.
Harvey, O., Hunt, D., & Schroder, H. (1961). Conceptual systems and personality organization. New York: Wiley.
19.
Hirschi, T., & Hindelang, M. (1977). Intelligence and delinquency: A revisionist review. American Sociological Review, 42(4), 571-587.
20.
Hokanson, J. E., Megargee, E. I., O'Hagan, S. E., & Perry, A. M. (1976). Behavioral, emotional, and autonomic reactions to stress among incarcerated, youthful offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 3(2), 203-234.
21.
Hunt, D., Butler, L., Noy, J., & Rosser, M. (1978). Assessing conceptual level by the paragraph completion method. Toronto: Ontario's Institute for Studies in Education.
22.
Jeffery, C. (1979). Biology and crime. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
23.
Jeffery, C. (1993). Genetics, crime and the canceled conference. The Criminologist, 18(1), 1, 6-8.
24.
Jenkins, R., & Hewitt, L. (1944). Types of personality structures encountered in child guidance clinics. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 14, 84-94.
25.
Jesness, C. (1988). Jesness inventory classification system. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 15(1), 78-91.
26.
Jesness, C. F. (1983). The Jesness Inventory (rev. ed.). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
27.
Jesness, C., & Wedge, R. (1983). Classifying offenders: The Jesness inventory classification system. Sacramento: California Youth Authority.
28.
Kane, T., & Saylor, W. (1983). Security designation/custody classification of inmates. Unpublished manuscript, Washington, DC, Department of Justice.
29.
Kohlberg, L., Colby, A., Gibbs, J., Speicher-Dubin, B., & Candee, D. (1978). Standard form scoring manual. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
30.
Lockwood, D. (1980). Prison sexual violence. New York: Elsevier.
31.
MacKenzie, D. (1989). Prison classification: The management and psychological perspectives. In L. Goodstein & D. MacKenzie (Eds.), The American prison: Issues in research and policy. New York: Plenum.
32.
Meehl, P. (1954). Clinical vs. statistical prediction. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
33.
Megargee, E. (1972). Standardized reports of work performance and inmate adjustment for use in correctional settings. Correctional Psychologist, 5, 48-54.
34.
Megargee, E., & Bohn, M. (1979). Classifying criminal offenders: A new system based on the MMPI. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
35.
Myers, L., & Levy, G. (1978). Description and prediction of the intractable inmate. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 15, 214-228.
36.
National Institute of Corrections. (1982). Classification: Principles, models, and guidelines. Washington, DC: Department of Justice.
37.
Palmer, T., & Werner, E. (1972). A review of I-level reliability and accuracy in the community treatment project. Sacramento: California Youth Authority.
38.
Petersilia, J., & Honig, P. (1980). The prison experience of career criminals (RAND Report Series R-2511-DOJ). Santa Monica, CA: RAND.
39.
Quay, H. (1983). Technical manual for the behavioral classifications system for adult offenders. Washington, DC: Department of Justice.
40.
Quay, H. (1984). Managing adult inmates: Classification for housing and program assignments. College Park, MD: American Correctional Association.
41.
Quay, H., & Parsons, L. (1972). The differential behavioral classification of the juvenile offender. Washington, DC: Department of Justice.
42.
Radloff, L. (1977). CESD Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385-401.
43.
Richards, B. (1978). The experience of long-term imprisonment. British Journal of Criminology, 18(1), 162-169.
44.
Sawyer, J. (1966). Measurement and prediction, clinical and statistical. Psychological Bulletin, 66(3), 178-200.
45.
Schuessler, K., & Cressey, D. (1950). Personality characteristics of criminals. American Journal of Sociology, 55, 476-484.
46.
Shipley, W. (1940). A self-administering scale for measuring intellectual impairment and deterioration. Journal of Psychology, 9, 371-377.
47.
Sullivan, C., Grant, M., & Grant, D. (1957). The development of interpersonal maturity: An application to delinquency. Psychiatry, 20, 373-386.
48.
Sykes, G. (1958). The society of captives. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
49.
Tennenbaum, D. (1977). Personality and criminality: A summary and implications of the literature. Journal of Criminal Justice, 5, 225-235.
50.
Toch, H. (1975). Men in crises: Human breakdowns in confinement. Chicago: Aldine.
51.
Toch, H. (1977). Living in prison. New York: Free Press.
52.
Toch, H., & Adams, K. (1989). Coping: Maladaptation in prisons. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
53.
Van Voorhis, P. (1991). Offender classification as a tool for effective treatment, decision-making, and supervision. In D. Lester, M. Braswell, & P. Van Voorhis (Eds.), Correctional counseling. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
54.
Van Voorhis, P. (in press). Psychological classification of the adult male prison inmate. Albany: State University of New York Press.
55.
Vold, G. (1958). Theoretical criminology (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
56.
Warren, M. (1969). The case for differential treatment of delinquents. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 381 (1), 47-59.
57.
Warren, M. (1971). Classification of offenders as an aid to efficient management and effective treatment. Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, 62(1), 239-268.
58.
Warren, M. (1983). Applications of Interpersonal Maturity Theory to offender populations. In W. S. Laufer & J. M. Day (Eds.), Personality theory, moral development, and criminal behavior. Lexington: Lexington Books.
59.
Warren, M., & Hindelang, M. (1979). Current explanations of offender behavior. In H. Toch (Ed.), Psychology of crime and criminal justice. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
60.
Warren, M., & the staff of the Community Treatment Project (1966). Interpersonal maturity level classification: Diagnosis and treatment of low, middle, and high maturity delinquents. Sacramento: California Youth Authority.
61.
Zager, L. (1988). MMPI-based criminal classification system: A review, current status, and future directions. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 15(1), 39-57.
62.
Zamble, E. (1992). Behavior and adaptation in long-term prison inmates: Descriptive longitudinal results. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 19(4), 409-425.
63.
Zamble, E., & Porporino, F. (1988). Coping, behavior, and adaptation in prison inmates. New York: Springer-Verlag.
