Determining norms for a population of delinquent adolescents utilizing data from a personality questionnaire

Research examining personality trait profiles for adolescent offenders is scarce. The occurrence of juvenile acting-out behavior is on the increase. This study was a pilot to explore means of scores for personality traits. This project looked at the means of responses of 60 delinquent adolescent males to a self-report personality questionnaire, the Comrey Personality Scales. Most members of this multi-cultural Sample were gang-related and were charged with felonies. They were sent to VisionQuest, a juvenile placement. The average age was 17 years 3 months. The means for this group were significantly different from the norms of the standardization sample. The obtained mean score on each trait continuum was discussed. The results suggested serious discouragement and emotional disturbance in these children. Suggestions for use of the profile to identify at-risk youth prior to delinquent activity were made