MMPIs OF RAPISTS O F ADULTS, RAPISTS O F CHILDREN, AND NON-RAPIST SEX OFFENDERS

JAMES A. ARMENTROUT AND ALLEN L. HAUER

Winnebago Mental Health Institute

Compared MMPI group mean profiles of rapists of adults, rapists of children, and non-rapist sex offenders. All three groups showed similar elevations on scale 4, but they differed in the extent to which scale 8 characteristics com- bined with those of scale 4. Rapists of adults showed an elevated 8-4 profile rapists of children showed a 4-8 profile but with scale 8 somewhat lower, and non-rapists showed a high-4 profile with scale 8 elevated still less. Though there was marked heterogeneity in the two- oint codes within groups, still the group results supported the notion that wfile all three types of sex offenders are impulsive and self-centered with poor social intelligence, the rapists of adults are more hostile, resentful and interpersonally alienated than are rapists of children, and both types of rapists show those hostile and resentful character- istics more than do non-rapist sex offenders.

Recent studies have begun to identify systematic differences in personality characteristics between groups of individuals who commit different types of sexual offenses. Panton (1958) studied group MMPI profiles of six crime classification groups including “aggravated sex” (e.g., rape) and “sex perversive” groups. He claimed to find no marked differences among the six group mean profiles and re- ported that the overall group mean profile was coded 4’86 7196 3-50 in the Welsh system. Swenson and Grimes (1958) studied MMPI profiles of sex offenders, 69% of whom had been convicted of indecent assault, and found the group mean profile to be 4’827 556-190. McCreary (1975) studied MMPI profiles for persons con- victed of indecent exposure in relation to the number of previous similar arrests. He found that those with six or more such arrests showed a group mean profile with an elevated 4-8 two-point code, while those with fewer arrests had lower group profiles with scale 4 highest, but scale S not in second rank. Rader (1977) reported that both rapists and indecent exposers showed group mean profiles with 4-8 code types, but the rapists had both scales 4 and S primed (i.e., elevated above T-score 70), while exposers had neither scale primed. Thus, there seems to be emerging consensus with regard to the primacy of scale 4, often in conjunction with scale 8, in the MMPIs of sex offenders.

It was the purpose of this study to investigate and compare the MMPIs of three other groups of sexual offenders-those who commit rape of an adult, those who commit rape of a child, and those who commit other non-rape sexual crimes. If the usual motivation for rape is equally or more aggressive than sexual, then rapists should appear to be more interpersonally hostile and aggressive than non- rape offenders. Also, those who rape adults might be expected to be more aggressive than those who rape children, since the rape of an adult is likely to require more force and run more risk of effective resistance.

METHOD Subjects and Procedure

Ss were identified from file records of patients who had committed sexual offenses and been sent by the courts to a midwestern psychiatric facility for in- patient evaluation and/or treatment. Ss were selected if they were male, had been committed for an offense carried out with or against a female, had completed the MMPI as part of their psychological evaluation, and had committed a sexual offense that fell into one of three categories. The three classes of offenses were (a) rape of an adult victim, with rape defined for present purposes as an aggressive and

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M M P I s of Rapists 331

forceful sexual act carried out against an unwilling victim; (b) rape of a child victim, with rape again defined as a sexual act carried out against the victim’s wishes, and (c) non-rape sexual offense, which included other non-aggressive and non-forcible acts such as voyeurism, exhibitionism, incest, fetishism, and taking indecent liberties with a minor without using force. It should be noted that pene- tration or intercourse was not required for our definition of rape; it was enough that a victim be forced to commit, or submit to, acts that gave the offender sexual excitement or gratification.

A total of 51 male Ss were identified-13 who had committed a rape of an adult female, 21 who had committed a rape of a female child, and 17 who had committed heterosexual non-rape offenses. These classifications were made on the basis of the offenses that led to commitment, without regard to other sexual offenses that might have occurred in the past. The age range of the Ss was from 18 to 67 years, with mean of 30.5 years and SD of 10.3. All had taken the MMPI while they were undergoing psychological evaluation, and those MMPI scores constituted the data for this study. In several instances in which the MMPI had been completed more than once during the hospital stay, the first MMPI profile after admission was used.

RESULTS AND DIscussIoN Means and SDs were calculated for the three groups’ K-uncorrected MMPI

scale raw scores and are shown in Table 1. If those data are used to draw group mean MMPI profiles, clinically relevant differences emerge between the groups as a whole. The rapists of adults producted a quite elevated 8-4 profile, the rapists of children produced a less elevated but still primed 4-8 profile, and the non-rapist

TABLE 1

MEANS AND SDs FOR K-UNCORRECTED MMPI SCALE RAW SCORES FOR RAPISTS OF ADULTS, RAPISTS OF CHILDREN, AND NON-RAPIST SEXUAL OFFENDERS

Rapists of Adults Rapists of Children Non-rapists N = 1 3 N = 2 1 N = 1 7

Scale M S D M SD M S D

L 4 . 4 2 . 7 5 . I 3 . 1 5 .2 3 . 3 F 11.8 7 . 6 9 .4 7 .8 8 . 4 6 . 9 K 12.5 6 . 9 13.7 5 . 5 15.6 5 . 6 Hs 8 . 5 5 . 6 7 . 3 6 . 7 5 . 9 4 . 3 D 25.0 6 . 5 22.9 5 . 6 21.3 5 . 1 HY 22.5 7 . 7 23.3 6 . 4 21.7 4 . 4 PD 25.8 7 . 2 23.7 5 . 1 22.9 5 . 9 MF 26.1 3 . 9 25.7 6 . 0 24.9 6 . 2 PA 14.7 5 . 9 13.6 5 .1 11.8 4 . 1 PT 20.0 11.8 16.1 10.3 13.1 9 . 2 S C 26.5 17.7 19.1 13.7 14.4 11.1 MA 20.5 5 . 1 18.1 4 . 4 19.9 4 . 7 SI 33.4 12.8 31.6 10.1 27.6 10.4

sexual offenders produced a 4-prime profile. The three groups had similar elevations on scale 4, but differed in the extent to which scale 8 also was elevated. Clini- cally, the 4-8 code type has been variously described as indicative of hostile, irri- table, unpredictably impulsive individuals who avoid close emotional involvement, show poor judgment and social intelligence, and are frequently in conflict with

332 Journal of Clinical Psychology, Apri l , 1978, Vol. 34, N o . 2.

agents of authority. The high-4 profile, though, is suggestive of individuals who are impulsive, pleasure-oriented, socially non-conforming, and unable to delay gratification or tolerate frustration, and yet such individuals are typically less hostile and resistive of authority than are the 4-8s.

The group mean MMPI profiles, then, support the clinical notion that rape of an adult is likely to be conducted by a more angry, resentful, and alienated person than is rape of a child and that rapists of both adults and children share those characteristics more than do non-rapist sexual offenders.

Statistical tests among the three groups on each M M P I scale showed that the only significant difference was on scale 8 between the rapists of adults and non- rapist sex offenders. Nevertheless, those profiles are consistent with the previously reported studies (McCreary, 1975; Panton, 1958; Rader, 1977; Swenson & Grimes, 1958) in emphasizing the importance of high-4 and 4-8 profile characteristics among sex offenders.

I n addition to differences in mean MMPI profiles between his groups, Rader reported that the modal profile for exposers was 4-8, for assaulters was 4-9, and for rapists was a tie between 4-8 and 4-3. The modal two-point codes of the present samples therefore were investigated to see whether similar patterns would be found. However, those data permit no definite conclusions. Among the 17 rapists of adults there were 9 different order-independent two-point codes. Though the modal pro- file was 4-8, i t occurred for only 3 of the 17 individuals, while 8-6 and 4-3 both occurred twice. For the 21 rapists of children, there were 11 different two-point codes; 4-7, 6-4, and 4-3 all occurred three times and were modal. For the 17 non- rapist sex offenders, eight different codes occurred; 9-4 and 4-8 both occurred four times and were modal. Perhaps the most one might conclude with regard to code types is that there was marked heterogeneity among all three groups and no clear trend for the 4-8s to occur more frequently for rapists than for non-rapists. Perhaps that is not surprising since Swenson and Grimes (1958) and Rader (1977) both found that groups of exposers had 4-8 mean MMPI profiles. It also cautions against arguing that the nature of the sex offense committed allows accurate prediction of an individual’s MMPI two-point code type.

REFERENCES MCCREARY, C. P.

PANTON, J. H.

Personality profiles of persons convicted of indecent exposure. Journal of Clinical

MMPI profile configurations among crime classification groups. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1975, 31, 260-262.

Ps?/Choh?/, 1958, 14, 305-308. - I . I

RADER, C. M.

SWENSON, W. M., & GRIMES, B. P.

MMPI profile types of exposers, rapists, and assaulters in a court services population. JOUTnal of comuuing and Clinicat Psycho~ogy, 1977, 46, 61-69.

Characteristics of sex offenders admitted to a Minnesota state hospital for pre-sentence psychiatric investigation. Psychiatric Quarterly Supplement, 1958, 31, 110-123.