|
Abstract
|
This two-part study explores the potential for assaultive behavior in females. The first part compares assaultive and nonassaultive female offenders for the presence of specific historical variables, and finds several significant differences. In the second part, the total female offender sample is compared with a male offender sample for presence of the same variables. The nearly equal incidence of several variables in both samples, such as persistent enuresis and firesetting, suggests a need for reassessment of some traditional theoretical formulations.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The goal of this study by Felthous and Yudowitz was to study the potential for assaultive behavior in females. The study included both a study of the variables which differentiated assaultive women from nonassaultive women and a study of the differences between these findings and those for men.
METHODOLOGY:
A quasi-experimental research design was used for this study. The sample consisted of 31 female offenders from the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Framingham and 19 male offenders from the Middlesex County House of Correction. Subjects included a mix of new arrivals to the facility, returns from escape status, inmates awaiting classification, and inmates referred for suspected emotional disorders. Data were gathered from a multiple choice questionnaire, psychiatric interview, and review of the subject's record. Data from the questionnaire included demographic variables and 27 items hypothetically related to assaultive behavior including childhood psychopathology, habits (such as carrying weapons), and interests. The data were organized into "deviant" and "nondeviant" responses, and deviance was then calculated as the number of deviant responses. The questionnaire was administered at the beginning of the interview. Identification of assaultive and nonassaultive examples was done through examination of individual offender charts. Special attention was given to verified court records, probation records, FBI records, intake conviction data forms, and administrative chronology. Conviction for an assaultive incident was the criterion for placement in the assaultive group. Seven women were not included in either group because of the ambiguity of their charges. Percentage tables and chi-square analysis were used to analyze the data.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The majority of all the offenders, male and female, were young, single, urban adults who were relatively uneducated and were unemployed. The total female sample was 68% white and 32% black, 92% urban, 64% single, and 61% repeat offenders. The assaultive and nonassaultive groups did not differ significantly on demographic variables. Eighteen of the males were white, and one was black. The men were 58% urban, and 63% single. Chi-square analysis revealed that histories of physically injurious paternal punishments (p<.02) and cruelty to animals (p<.02) were significantly related to assaultive convictions among the female offenders. Persistent enuresis, severe childhood headaches, deviant paternal punishments, physically injurious maternal punishments, early abandonment by a parent, destructive firesetting, and poor peer relationships in childhood were found at least 20% more frequently among the assaultive females. A history of turning in false fire alarms was significantly (p<.01) associated with the nonassaultive group. Frequent temper tantrums, fights with injury, and school truancy were found at least 20% more frequently with the nonassaultive group. Comparison of the total male and female samples showed that male offenders had a significantly higher incidence of poor grades in elementary school, carrying deadly weapons, and unjustified punishments by their mothers (p<.01). Insignificant but showing a greater than 20% differential were violent childhood temper tantrums and childhood head injury with loss of consciousness found among men. Female offenders showed a significantly higher incidence of physically injurious punishments by their fathers (p<.001), deviant paternal punishments (p<.02), frequent childhood temper tantrums (p<.01), and preference for detective movies (p<.01). There was a greater than 20% differential between men and women in early childhood abandonment with women more likely to have been abandoned by one or both parents by the age of ten. The authors concluded that enuresis, firesetting, and cruelty to animals carry significance in distinguishing between assaultive and nonassaultive females but not pathognomicity. Poor integrative functions and primitive defense mechanisms were argued to be a possible factor in these three behaviors in which aggressive impulses are not effectively modulated. In addition to structural deficiencies in the ego, the superego was argued to be underdeveloped. The elements in this symptom triad were argued to be no more or less significant for males than for females. Overall, it was found that injurious paternal punishments, cruelty to animals, and more general social maladaptiveness were correlated to assaultive behavior equally in males and females.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors argued that further research is necessary to establish more firmly the relative significance of each variable and clustering of variables as signs of impulsive-assaultive potential.
EVALUATION:
This study explored an area which has not been given much attention in the literature: women's violence. For this reason, this study contributes to the literature. The findings in this study, however, are not generalizable to a larger population for two major reasons. First, the subjects were not randomly selected or assigned; it was difficult to tell what system was used for selection of the specific offenders in the study. Second, the geographic specificity of the area could influence these findings; more research in other areas of the country would eliminate the possible regional bias. Another concern with this study is its measurement of assaultive behavior. Conviction for assaultive crimes includes the influence of police and the courts as well as the content of the crime. Women in the nonassaultive group could have been violent at some time but not prosecuted or convicted.
(CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - Massachusetts
KW - Comparative Analysis
KW - Gender Comparison
KW - Physical Assault Offender
KW - Adult Female
KW - Adult Offender
KW - Adult Violence
KW - Female Violence
KW - Female Offender
KW - Offender Characteristics
KW - Offender Personality
KW - Personality Characteristics
KW - Violence Causes
KW - Violence Prediction
KW - Gender Differences
KW - Offender Typology
Language: en |