Post-dicting continuing criminal activity with personality tests

Abstract

The test the hypothesis, post-dicting continuing criminal activity is more effective with personality test than post-dicting continual criminal activity with personality questionnaires, a group of 23 felons, who had a minimum of two felony arrests in the last three years, and who were currently residing in a community corrections facility were evaluated. T-tests were conducted, based on race, to determine if separate calculations were necessary for black and white subjects. The results of this test did not indicate major personality trait differences between races. The subjects were tested in groups of 5 with an average of 7 subjects per group. The subjects were evaluated over a 43-day period during which they completed three subtests of the O-A Battery Test Kit and a self-report of their criminal behavior over the past three years. Information was collected from the participants' file folders, which included arrest records and MMPI results. Ten dependent variables were created. The dependent variables were : (1) total amount o self-reported crime, (2) amount of self-reported misdemeanors (3) amount of self-reported property crime, (4) self-reported drug offenses, (5) self-reported crimes against people, (6) total number of arrests, (7) number of arrests for misdemeanors, (8) number of arrests for property crimes, (9) number of arrests for drug offenses, and (10) number of arrests for crimes against people. The predictor or independent variables were the results obtained from the O-A Battery Test Kit and the MMPI results listed in the file folders. Multivariate regression analysis did not support the hypothesis. The opposite situation appears to be more correct: Post-dicting continuing criminal activity is more effective with personality questionnaires than post-dicting continual criminal activity with personality tests.