EGO Defense,Self-Concept and Image of Self Ascribed to Parents by Delinquent Boys

Abstract

Patteins of self-perception, perception of parental attitudes toward the self and ego defense in delinquent and nondeliquent juveniles were studied. A self-concept questionnaire and Rosenzweig P-F test were administered to 36 institutionalized delinquents, and to 29 nondelinquent Ss. The following hypotheses were tested: (1) Delinquents and nondelinquents will not be different in self-concept nor in the image of self they ascribe to parents. (2) Delinquents with favorable self-reports will be higher on an ego-defense measure than nondelinquents with similar self-reports. (3) The self-concept will be more related to the image of self ascribed to parents by nondelinquents than by delinquents. As predicted, the self-reports of delinquents did not differ from those of nondelinquents, and delinquents whose self-reports were positive tended to score higher on ego-defense measure than nondelinquents with similar favorable self-reports. It was noted that the delinquents differentiated more than nondelinquents between their actual self-concepts and the images of self they ascribed to their parents.