Mexican-American Male Batterers on the MCMI—III

Abstract

This study examined personality characteristics of Mexican-American male batterers. 60 Mexican-American male batterers ( M = 33.6 yr.) in the court system in South Texas took the MCMI–III and their MCMI–III scores were compared with the scores of a community sample of 45 Mexican-American individuals ( M=30.4 yr.). The batterers frequently scored higher than the nonbatterers on the Avoidant and Passive-Aggressive scales, while nonbatterers frequently scored higher on the Histrionic scale. The batterers scored significantly higher on 18 out of 24 MCMI–III scales, while nonbatterers scored significantly higher on two scales.