On Within-Defense Variability and Defenses in Male Federal Offenders
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On Within-Defense Variability and Defenses in Male Federal Offenders A thesis submitted to the College of Graduate Studies and Research, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Psychology University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon © Michael Sheppard, November 2009, all rights reserved Within-defense variability i PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this university may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this dissertation in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my dissertation work, or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this dissertation or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my dissertation. DISCLAIMER Reference in this dissertation to any specific commercial products, process, or service my trade name, trademark, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favouring by the University of Saskatchewan. The views and opinions of the author expressed herein do not state or reflect those of the University of Saskatchewan, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. Requests for permission to copy or to make other uses of materials in this dissertation in whole or in part should be addressed to: Head of the Department of Psychology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N 5A5 Canada OR Dean College of Graduate Studies and Research University of Saskatchewan 107 Administration Place Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5A2 Canada Within-defense variability ii Abstract There were two purposes to the current set of studies. The first was to test the validity of the Adaptiveness of Defenses Scale (ADS), a new measure developed to assess variability within ego defense mechanisms. Study 1 addressed the validity of the ADS with a sample of 104 male undergraduates. The ADS was hypothesized to account for significant unique variance on dependent measures (the PAI, ECR, and final grade in introductory psychology) beyond that accounted for by the Defense-Q. Regression analyses showed that a different pattern emerged. The Defense-Q and ADS accounted for different aspects of the dependent variables, with the Defense-Q predicting PAI Somatization scale scores and the ADS predicting ECR avoidance scale scores. Study 2 addressed the validity of the ADS with a sample of 64 male federal inmates. The ADS was hypothesized to account for significant unique variance on dependent measures (the BPI, PCL-R, and PAS) beyond that accounted for by the Defense-Q. As with Study 1, the two measures tended to predict different aspects of the dependent measures. The Defense-Q predicted immature defense factor scores on the BPI as well as BPI total score, and it predicted affective instability factor scores on the PAS, as well as PAS total score. Conversely, the ADS predicted PCL-R total and Factor 1 scores. The relation between the Defense-Q ADP similarity score and the PCL-R interpersonal facet was significantly positive, while the relation between the ADS total score and this facet was significantly negative. The results of Studies 1 and 2 suggest that the ADS captures an aspect of defensive functioning different from that measured by the Defense-Q, likely related to interpersonal functioning. Study 3 examined the relation between defenses (measured by the Defense-Q and ADS) and correctional variables (offense history, Within-defense variability iii institutional incidents, institutional charges, urinalysis outcomes, and correctional program outcomes), as well as examined Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal differences. The differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal inmates tended to show that non-Aboriginal inmates were older and had more aggressive criminal histories as well as higher PCL-R total and Factor 1 scores. They also tended to have more problematic institutional adjustments, likely because of their higher levels of psychopathy. The Defense-Q was significantly related to general offence history for Aboriginal inmates and the ADS was significantly related to violence history for non-Aboriginal inmates, but other significant relations were sparse. The results of the current series of studies provides preliminary support for the idea that individual defenses have their own ranges of adaptiveness, as the ADS scores male undergraduates and male inmates were significantly different for the same defenses. Given the pattern of the relations of the ADS to the dependent variables, it appears that the ADS is sensitive to interpersonal functioning. Within-defense variability iv Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank the inmates of Saskatchewan Penitentiary for allowing me to conduct videotaped interviews with them and review their files. This dissertation could not have been done without their support and candor and they had no real reason to give that to me. Of course, the support of the inmates would have been meaningless without the support of Correctional Service Canada and the staff at Saskatchewan Penitentiary. Christine MacDonald and the psychology department in particular (hi Karen) facilitated the collection of data. Thanks so much. My research assistants and friends, Dana Bain, Caryn Brown, Donaldo Canales, and Berkley Stait put in countless hours’ worth of training sessions and then coded the many videotaped interviews. They continued coding even after graduating despite the fact that I couldn’t pay them. Thank you for your input to the ADS and your commitment to what for you must have been a large and shapeless undertaking. This all means thanks for trusting me that I was on to something here. You were the lynchpin of the project. I would obviously like to thank my supervisor Dr. Stephen Wormith. The freedom you provide your students allowed me to go forward and do this dissertation, which enabled me to glimpse behind the curtain and get to know about inmates without being a staff member. I believe my clinical work is better off for having done this research and not something archival (even if it did take forever this way). I would also like to thank my committee members, Drs. Stephen Wong, Michael MacGregor, and Sarah Hoffman. We really went all over the place with this thing, didn’t we? Thanks for your thoughtful comments and suggestions. Thanks also to Dr. Stephen Hibbard for agreeing to be my external examiner. Your comments and recommended changes really tightened the final product. I would like to thank my friends at school for their help with, well, lots, really. In particular I would like to thank Kyla Hoffman for helping me hash out the ADS. It would have been a hell of an honours project! Thanks to Matthew Burnett for agreeing to help with the interviews, and Mark Olver for reviewing a draft of the dissertation before it was handed in to the committee. Thanks Trevor Olson and Michelle Presniak for believing in the idea and helping me with theory and methods whenever I was lost or stuck. Sarah MacAulay and Ellen Ivity, I finished first so you owe me dinner. Trish Demmans already bought me the dinner I won for finishing before her (thanks Trish). Racing you three to defense was fun. Selena, even though you didn’t see it through to the end, you were vital to so much of it. Thanks for the patience you had; I couldn’t have done it without you. Through this endurance test, my friends and I got to celebrate and commiserate together, and that’s what friendship is about. This wouldn’t be the acknowledgement section of a psychodynamic dissertation if I didn’t mention my parents and family. Thanks mom for always thinking good thoughts and wanting to help, and thanks dad for your support and pride. I got a PhD, can I stop being grounded now? Thanks Andrew and Barb for keeping me oriented to life outside of Saskatchewan and taking me skiing sometimes. I needed that. And thanks Angus for reminding me that stopping and sniffing things is sometimes vitally important. Finally, I would like to thank Lord Cthulhu for not rising from the inky depths of R’lyeh. When the stars are right and you do arise, dread lord, may I be eaten first? Within-defense variability v Table of Contents On Within-Defense Variability and Defenses in Male Federal Offenders ………… 1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………… 1 Defenses and Psychopathology ………………………………………………..... 2 Assessing Defenses ...…………………………………………………………… 4 STUDY 1 Validation of the Adaptiveness of Defenses Scale with a Male Undergraduate Sample ……................................................................................................................ 8 Introduction ………………………………………………………………………… 8 Problems in the Organization of Ego Defenses ...……………………………..... 8 Different Defense Hierarchies ..………………………………………………… 10 The Question of Within-Defense Variability ..…………………………………. 13 Different Assessments and Within-Defense Variability ...……………………… 13 The Adaptiveness of Defenses Scale (ADS) as a Supplement to the Defense-Q . 16 The Present Study …..………………………………………………………….