A PSYCHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF CONVICTED INCEST OFFENDERS BY MEANS OF TWO PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES Thesls {or “we Degree of DI’I. D. MICHIGAN STATE UNWERSITY James 0. Martin 1958 111111 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILIIl ' '- 3 1293 104 8 54 5.}? 4 Huh A PSICROLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF CONVICTfiD INCEST OFFEEDERS BY Efififis OF TWO PROJECTIVS TECHEIQUES BY James 0. Martin A T113513 Submitted to the school for Advanced Graduate Studies of Michigan State University of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Psychology Year 1958 ABSTRACT James 0..Martin, Michigan State University. A Ps,cholo ical Investigation of Convicted Incest Offenders B'NTEEHE"ETETFF- Frolective focfifiiques. Iéajmfessor: uB‘Ex-TITRE‘EiET' The present study represents an investigation of certain personality factors derived from psychoanalysis, and their relationship to the crime of father-daughter incest. Person- ality traits descriptive of the psychoanalytic concept of the ”Phallic Character” were presented as hypotheses to be con- firmed. Thres hypotheses suggested the continued presence of disturbances in the following psychosexual areas: Oral Eroti- cisn, Oedipal Intensity, and Castration Anxiety. Three more hypotheses were concerned with current behavioral reactions associated with the dynamics to be found in the Phallic Character; i.s.. the presence of aggressive drives, resent- ment toward authority, and a contempt and hostility toward women. The final four hypotheses contained predictions con- cerning perceptions expected from this type of individual. These included perception of the wife as unavailable sexually, s self-percspt of inability to compete successfully with oth- ers. perception of ths environment as hostile, and perception of young adolssccnt females as being interested in hetero- sexual activity. ii The subjects used in this investigation included an Experimental Group of thirty Incest Offenders and s Control Group of florty-ons other prisoners. The Controls were sub- divided into one group of twenty-one man convicted of Statutory Rape against non-related minor females, and a cec- ond group of twenty non imprisoned for the felony of Break- ing and Entering. All subjects schisved I.Q.'s of 80 or above. Ho subject had a prior history of arrest for a sexual or assaultive crime, and no subject had been previous- ly diagnosed ns psychotic or severely disturbed mentally. Analysis of the data on the subjects indicated that the Incest Offenders had s higher mean age than either of the Control subegroups. The Incest Offenders had more children, and as s group had cone into less conflict with the law prior to the commission of the crime for which they were in- careersted. Instruments used in this investigation were the Blacky Pictures Test. six cards fron.ths Thematic Apperception Test, and one card from the Michigan Picture Test. The latter seven cards were presented to the subjects, and scored, ac- cording to a method devised for the present study. Tests of hypotheses were nods by comparing the responses of each group by means of Chi-Square. iii The statistical compcri sons indicated that the Incest Offender Group had a significantly greater frequency of the proposed reactions on three of the tan hypothesea tested. flhasa differences were in the areaa of Oral Eroticism, Gaga tration Anxiety. and Oedip&1 Intensity. These three hypotheses were supported. the remaining aeven experimantal hypofibcues wart ro- Jocted as the Incest Offender: did not reveal a significantly higher-froqueney'of'the rasponsoa expected by the design of the study. The Incest Offendar Group had a significantly higher number or individuals Who wart Judged £3 generally'disturbed in tho paydhosexnal areas, a: msasnred by their responses to five Blacky'Pictures cards. A discussion of the limitations of this study and of the instruments employed was presented, and the current re? suits were compared with thoaa found in a similar study done at Sing Sing Prison. Su 3&2estiona for further resaa rch warn made. Approved: an- ‘ Kibert I. Rabin Pb. DO. Dept. of Psychoiog Dateiwf['izg‘~5’c? # 1v ACICJOwL”"C§£$€TS A primary debt of gratitude is owed to Dr. Albert I. Rabin, Major Professor and Committee Chairman who directed this thesis, fior hio invaluable professional assistance and his personal interooo in its progress. Important, also, was the help rendered by Dr. Paul Bakln and Dr. Gerald King, Committee Members, whose suggestion. and critique. made this research more scientifically sound and certainly more readable. The assistance of the filohigau Department of Correct- ions is acknowledged, including Birootor Gun Harrison, Warden William H. Bannan, and other: of the start of tho Stat. Prison of Southern Michigan. my personal thanks go out to the inmates who took part in thin study, especial- ly the coxual offenders. to whom no personal reward was offercd. AdditionAIIy, I would liko to singlo out Doug W., inmate clerk who typed this report, and who previously typed the many revisions necessary during its progress. Doug also did much of the group testing. Finally, I would like to mention my wife, Barbara Ann, who endured the many trials common to wire. of Ph. D. candi- da‘0.0 '1': ”LE 0? COI£T£IST3 I. IIITROEUCTION St‘tamflnt 0r tha PrOblun u o o o o o II. _ REVIEW OF THE LITEmTUIZE . III. POSSIBLE UW‘ERLYIKG CAUSES IN THE CRIMIuAL IKCESTUAL ACT Preliminary Considerations . 15 Statement of Hypechflle’ o o 21 IV. PROCEDURE SUbJBGt' 0.. c a o o a o o a 2b Control Groupfl 0 u o o o I o O 26 Psycho-Sooial Characteristics of 28 SfllCfltion of TCUtI o I o o o o a 36 Response measurafi a o o o o 39 The Judging ExPerimont . £5 Tests of fiypotheses . 53 V. RESULTS The EIpQrinontal Hypotheses 55 Further Experimental Analysis 64 vi TABLE OF CONTfllTS - Cont. VI. DISCUSS ON 0? RESULTS The Experimental Hypotheses . 70 Discussion of tho Experimental Findings 71 Limitations of the Present Study . 79 VII. SUI-SEMI A2551) COE’éCLUSIUNS Genaralfiamarka ............ 82 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 85 v11 LIST OF TABLES 1. Intolltgencc, Age, and Educational Level or the Tflfial SEQPIC o 0 Q o t 9 t u a o o a I a . a 30 2. marital Status 0 a o a o o o c o o o o o o o o 0 32 30 Criminal Record a n 0 a o o o o o o u o o a c a n 33 a. Ag’ a: Victim (Sax Groups) 0 o a n o o 0 c o o o 35 5. Number of Coital Contact: with Victim-Ificost . GTO“? o o o o I o . o 0 o o 0 o q o o 0 o o 0 ¢ 0 36 6. Final Tout Items. ChiuSqnaro Significance Level. and “flan Rating 0 u o o I Q o o o o o o c 51 7. ChicSqnaro Analysis of Hypothesis I-t .1. 55 8. ~ * ' - ' I-b . 57 9. ' ' ' " ' I-c . 58 19. "V . u a " L4..... .. 59 11. * ~ ~ * a 1-. 60 12. u ~ ~ , " 1-: . 61 13. ' - w * a 11. 61 1.. " a w w v 111-. 62 15. ' - n v u III-h . 63 16. ' ' " ' ' IV. 63 I7. Chi-Square Analysia of'Scoros on Blacky C‘rd II o o c o a o o o a o o c o o u c o o o o o 65 18. Chi-3 are Analysis of Scores on Blacky Card I o o p o a u o o o a n 0 ¢ - o o u o n o 66 7111 \Irl‘lll“ rll ,luln. rllll‘ LIST OF TABLES - Cont. 19. Chi-Square Analysis of Total Amount at Psycho- nexual flisturbancu Found in Individuals within Each Group - the Five Blacky Test Cards A - Individual Blacky Protocols, Humber or Cardfi Scored ”Disturbed” o c o o u a o o a o 67 B - By Parcentagas a o o o o c o o o u a o o o o 67 20. Chi-quare Signif1c&nce Levels A . The Blacky Test Cards . 63 BthoSovanPictursStoryCarda........ 68 21. Porcentages¢ot Subjects in Each Group Shdwing Disturbance 1n the Testing A - The Blacky'faat (+ or ++ Scores). 69 B - The Picture Story Gard: (”Strong” Reactions) 0 0 ¢ 0 o o o v o a o o o o o o o 69 22. Comparison of Present Findings with Thane of GluCCk - Deact1pt1'9 Statistics 0 o I o o o o 0 Q 76 23. Comparison of Present Findings with Those of Gluack - Disturbance Ratings (Mild and marked) a o o o o o o a o c o o o o o c a c o o o 73 I INTRODUCTION Statement of the problem The problem of the sexual offender is of great import- ance for those groups involved in the detection, detention, and prevention of socially deviant behavior. .MOtivating factors behind many such crimes are inadequately understood by those responsible for dealing with the criminal. There appears to be a dearth of scientific investigations of sexy ual crimes by those very disciplines whose object it is to understand human behavior. The criminal sexual offender provides an important area of study for such diverse groups as law enforcement officials; penologists, and the behavioral scientists and; secondarily; for the lauhmaking and adminis- trative organisations directing the control of such behavior. 1n. clinical psychologist is in a position to offer ser- vices and data toward the understanding of these sexual of- tenses. Sharing in common with other disciplines in the behavioral sciences a knowledge of personality theory - development and deviation . techniques of interviewing, and the use of case history'naterial; the clinician can also make a unique contribution in the use of psychological tests and - 1 .