Personality in Assaultive and Non-Assaultive Juvenile Male Offenders

Abstract

The present study investigated the relationship between antisocial behavior and personality in 30 American juvenile males convicted of offenses including assault or confrontations with a victim, and 30 juvenile males convicted of offenses involving property without confrontation with a victim. Subjects, who were aged 14 to 17 yr. (mean 15 yr., 8 mo.) and held in detention pending sentencing, were administered the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and Zuckerman Sensation Seeking Scale. Juveniles convicted of assaultive offenses exhibited significantly higher psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism scores, and lower lie scores than those convicted of property offenses. Sensation-seeking scores were significantly lower for the non-assaultive group. Results support Eysenck's description of dimensions of offenders' behavior.