DUIPersonality and DUI Offenders
Cavaiola AA, Strohmetz DB, Abreo SD. Addict Behav 2006; ePub(ePub): ePub.
Affiliation: Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey, USA.
(Copyright © 2006, Elsevier Publishing)
77 individuals convicted of a drinking and driving (DUI) offense were screened for recidivism approximately 12 years following their first offense. At the time of the initial DUI conviction, participants were administered the MAST and the MMPI-2. Participants' drinking history and driving history and arrest at the time of screening and at a 12-year follow-up were also reviewed. The results indicate that, among DUI recidivists, on average 6 years elapsed between their first and second DUI offenses. Driving history prior to the first DUI offense was predictive of later recidivism.
The only significant finding from the MAST and MMPI results was that repeat offenders tended to have higher scores on the L and K validity scales of the MMPI (see Forensic Psychology Study below). These results are discussed in the context of Jessor's Problem-Behavior Theory and as well their clinical implications for screening and treatment decisions involving first time DUI offenders.
Source: http://www.safetylit.org/
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AMERICAN JOURNAL OF FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY, Volume 16, Number 4, 1998, p. 5-14
MMPI-2 VALIDITY SCALES AND SUSPECTED PARENTAL ALIENATION SYNDROME
by Jeffrey C. Siegel, Ph.D. and Joseph S. Langford, Ph.D.
MMPI-2 validity scales of two groups of parents going through child custody evaluations, parents who engage in parental alienation syndrome (PAS) behaviors and parents who do not, were compared. It was hypothesized that PAS parents would have significantly higher L and K scales and a significantly lower F scale than parents who do not engage in these behaviors. Using female subjects, since few males were available, the hypothesis was confirmed for K and F scales, indicating that PAS parents are more likely to complete MMPI-2 questions in a defensive manner, striving to appear as flawless as possible. It was concluded that parents who engage in alienating behaviors are more likely than other parents to use the psychological defenses of denial and projection, which are associated with this validity scale pattern. Implications of this finding regarding possible personality disorders in PAS parents are discussed.
Parental alienation syndrome is a term coined by Gardner (1, 2) for the phenomenon in which a child from a broken marriage becomes alienated from one parent due to the active efforts of the other parent to sever their relationship. Rand (3) recently provided an extensive review of the literature relevant to this phenomenon, broadening the scope to include writing which described the same or similar Concepts without using Gardner's term. Gardner and others (4, 5) have described numerous behaviors the alienating parent may engage in to harm the child's relationship with the other parent, many of which have been described as "programming" or "brainwashing." For example, the alienating parent is likely to make accusations about the other parent in front of the child, describe the other parent as dangerous or harmful, tell the child that the other parent does not love him or her, and greatly exaggerate the other parent's faults (whether real or imagined). More extreme alienating behaviors include making false accusations of sexual or physical abuse and programming the child to believe that the abuse occurred. According to Gardner, the child becomes aware that the alienating parent wants him or her to hate the other parent and, out of the need to please the alienating parent and to avoid abandonment or rejection, the child joins in the denigration of the other parent.
Source: http://www.fact.on.ca/Info/pas/siegel98.htm
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