Search

Before embarking on the development of a treatment classification of court delinquents, it seemed advisable to attempt to reduce the sampling and measurement error in the conventional psychiatric assessment of delinquents. A number of controls were, therefore, imposed upon the conventional psychiatric diagnostic process to permit an assessment of, and to generate an increase in, its reliability and validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An empirical treatment typology of court delinquents was derived through combining several levels of analysis by means of multivariate analytic techniques to throw light on the dynamics of delinquent behavior and provide clues for its control. A random sample of 196 cases were assessed psychiatrically, psychologically, interpersonally and socio-environmentaliy on a series of quantitative rating schedules of known reliability. An analysis of variance model using Fisher's intraclass R as the basic statistical device was used in a computer program to derive three highly differentiated types of delinquents and to define them in terms of their varying multivariate profiles. A comparative profile chart is presented and the differential characteristics of the three types described. Implications of the findings for delinquency theory are discussed. It is suggested, in conclusion, that a typological approach may contribute to the explanation of delinquent behavior as well as to its control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]