Psycho-social characteristics of check offenders

Psycho-Social Characteristics of Check Offenders

By DA~,q9 DAvis, DONALD F. KAuscI~ A ~ HARVEY L. Gocrmos

T HE PASSING OF NO-ACCOUNT, BOGUS, OR F O R G E D CHECKS has been recognized as a leading cause of imprisonment in the Uni ted

States. I t has been .estimated that the cost to the nation for such offenses ranges upwards of $535 million zumually. Despite this heavy economic bur- den and its consequent disruption to other social systems, relatively few at- tempts have been made through systematic research studies to ferret out the social and psychological factors tha t max, determiaae, or be associated with, daeck crimes. Notable exceptions have been the studies of McDonald s and Guze et al.4. McDonald studied check offenders in state penitentiaries, those seen in mental hospitals, and those referred by courts for psychiatric evaluation, and concluded that these men a re -se ldom "'insane," that they range w ide ly . i n inte]!igence, ,rod that they typically have a previous history of antisocial behaxdor a n d convictions. Gaze and his co-workers contrasted data obtained from 18 check offenders, with tha t obtained from 205 felons. Their comparisons suggested that check offenders tended to be older, bet ter educated; and more likely to be whi te than the controls. Further , they found that alcoholism t e n d e d t o be associated with check offenses more ~frequently than with other ~-pes of crimes. While a number of other studies ~.-~7 have a t tempted to isolate factors associated with check offenses, these studies are often im- pressionistic or lack objectivity, are based on small samples, or do not use control groups,

The present s tudy was under taken (1) to fur ther uncover psychological and social factors associated wida check offenses, (2) to determine the prev- alence of psychiatr ic disorder in a sample of check offenders, and (3) to use these data to suggest ways to prevent check offenses and to develop rehabilitation programs.

M~Tt~OD Check, Offmuter Group

This sample was comprised of 76 men imprisoned at the Diagnostic and Classification Section of the Missouri S ta te .Peni ten t ia ry during a six-month period. All of these inmates had been tried, convicted, and sentenced to confinement in a state peni tent iary for the first time, Thir ty-four inmates were convicted of forgery, 36 on charges of no-account checks, four for inst t~cient

DAVlD DAVIS, M.B., I).P.M.: Associate Professor of Psychiatry; Chief, Section o] General Pstdchiatry, Universit~t of Missouri School of Medicine, Coh~mbia, Mo. DONALD F. KAr0SCH, PH.D.: Assistant ProJessor,o] Medical Psychology, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, Mo, tlAr~vz-v L. Goc~mos, D.S,~V.: Associate Projessor of Social Work and Community Health and Medical Practice; Chief of Psychiatric Social V¢ork, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Colurr~bia, Mo.

474 COMVRmtE.~'SlVE PsvcHt^ama-, VOL. 9, No. 5, (September), 1968

~ C T E I I I S T I C S O F CHECK, O F F E N D E R S 475

r inds, one for altering the monetary value of ahecks, and one for both forgery and no-account checks.

Control Group The control group included 73 inmates who were in the state peni tent iary

for the first time for crimes other than check offenses. This sample included eight persons convicted for aggravated assault, 49 for robbery or burglary, eight for larceny, four for aggravated sexual assault, two for sexual perver- sion, and two for automobile accidents.

Data Collection Data relevant t o psychological. ,and social characteristics of the check of-

fenders were gathered th rough Structured interviews, a review of the pr i son record, and psychological testing.

Each of the men was seen for a semi-structured interview last ing approxi- mately one hour shortly after confinement a t the diag'nostic center. In this interview, the prisoner's life adjustment, a t t i tudes and ex]~erience were sys- tematically explored. Thus, data concemaing the prisoner's family, community, peer relationships, education, marriage, occupation, use of money and frustration tolerance were routinely obtained. In addition, the interviewer assessed the inmate's personality and present mental status and formulated a diagnostic impression.

The prison record for each subject was reviewed including corroborating information obtained from the FBI report, the prosecuting attorney's de- scription of the crime, a report from the inmate's relatives, the medical report and in some cases, t h e diagnostic center's own work-up. The latter report provided identifying inforanation, social, educational, occupational, criminal, economic, religious and psychiatric histo~" and the results of the physical examination.

The information obtained from the interview and record was subsequently coded by the interviewers according to a set o f pre-established criteria for each item.

The psychological test bat tery included the Vocabulary Scale of the Wechs- ler Adult Intelligence Scale, 1Raven's Progressive Matrices, and the Graham- Kendall Memory-For-Designs Test. If~the inmate did not have serious reading problems, he was given the Stanford Ach ievement Test a n d the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.

Data pertaining to the control group were obtained by review of the prison record. Information in these records was of the same type and quali ty as for the check offender group.

R~St3LTS Identi[ying Data

As noted in Table 1, the check offenders were significantly older and con- tained fewer Negroes than the control group. There was no significal~t ditter- ence, however, as regards religious affiliation. The majori~, of both groups were Protestants, with an absence of Jewish prisoners.

476 DAVIS, IL&USC.I-I AN'I) GOCI-IROS

T a b l e l . - - S t a t l s l l e a l Co~llparlsons Beiwee~l Cheek Offe l lders and Prison Control Group

CheckOffenders Controls t Value Level of Significance

IdenlO'ying Data Age 28.6 24.2 2.53 .02 :I~ace (white) 93.4% 71.2% 3.55 .01 Education School grade 9.3 8.9 1.01 N.S. Stanford Achievement Test 7.6 7.3 .66 N.S.

~lilitary History L'Iilitary Experience 56.6~ 26.0% 3.80 .0t Punitive Discharge 34.9% 57.4% 1.64 N.S.

Family No. Siblings 4.2 4.7 .88 N.S. :Position (only and eldest) 46.1% 23.5% 2.80 .02 Broken homes 56.6% 71.2~, 1.86 N.S. Marriage ~larried 71.0c)~ 28.8~ 5.20 .01 ]Intact marriage 38.9~c 57.1c7o 1..13 N.S. Multiple marriage 38.9ff~ 19.0t~c 1.64 N.S.

Criminal t t fslory _,No. Convictions 3.1 .7 8.43 .01 Accomplices 35.5% 47.8~ .47 N.S.

E d u c a t i o n

T h e scores on the S t a f f o r d A c h i e v e m e n t Tes t a n d g rade a t t a i ned were sim- i lar £or the two groups. Of the cheek o f fender group , 32.8 pe r cent h a d some a d d i t i o n a l t r ade educa t ion . In t e l l i gence as e s t ima ted by the V o c a b u l a ~ , Sub- tes t of the %VAIS y i e l d e d a m e a n I.Q. of 89.4 w i t h the fo l lowing d i s t r ibu t ion of scores for thd 76 offenders: very super io r = 1, super io r = :29, b r i g h t nor- ma l = 5, ave rage ----- "25, dul l n o r m a l - - 2 3 , b o r d e r l i n e de fec t ive = 17, and de fec t ive = 3 .

O n the Raven ' s Progress ive Matr ices , a n o n v e r b a l test of p rob l em-so lv ing ab i l i~q the d i s t r ibu t ion of scores for the check offenders was h i g h l y skewed t o w a r d the low end. T h i r t e e n inmates scored b e l o w the f if th pe rcen t i l e w h e n c o m p a r e d w i th a n o r m a t i v e group, 53 scored b e t w e e n the fifth and 50th per- centi]e, a n d on ly fc, u r inmates scored h ighe r t han the 80th percen t i l e .

O c c u p a t i o n

T h e m o s t r ecen t occupa t ions he ld by the check g roup cover a w i d e r ange of voca t iona l act ivi t ies. W h e n classified a c c o r d i n g to cr i ter ia in the D.O.T . , a° 17 p e r cen t we re f o u n d to be e n g a g e d in profess iona l or c ler ica l services, 21 p e r cen t d id ag r i cn l tu ra l work , 11 pe r cen t were ski l led laborers , wh i l e the majority, (51 pe r cen t ) were classified as e n g a g e d in semi-skiUed or u n s k i l l e d e m p l o y m e n t . The re was m a r k e d instabiliD" i n the job his tor ies of this g r o u p w i t h 2;5 inma tes neve r h a v i n g he ld a job m o r e than two years, wh i l e on ly 1.5 h a d he ld a job for more than five years. F o r t y - t h r e e per cen t of the check- passers a d m i t t e d to h a v i n g b e e n fired f rom at least one job.

CItAItACI'EIIISTI~--~S O F CI tECK OFFENDERS

T a b l e 2 . - -Pas t Offenses o] 7 6 Cheek Offenders

477

Crime. Classific~tion Number of OffeT~ses

Assault 1 t Assault with a weapon 1 B u rglary 12 Check 40 Drinking 21 Juvenile offenses 5 Motor vehicle 21 Non-support 3 Sexual 6 Theft 11 Vagrancy 3

Military ttistory A significantly greater number of check offenders had mil i tary experience

of whom 34.9 per cent received either general or dishonorable discharges . However, when compared to the control group, they tended to have had less dit~culty in ser~dce, 23 of them completing basic training or becoming privates first class and 20 becoming noncommissioned officers.

Famihj H istor~j It is interesting that a significantly higher prop0~-ion (46 per cent) of the

check offenders were either the eldest or the only children in the family compared to the controls (23.5 per cent). Both groups tended to c o m e from broken homes with 22.5 per cent of the cheek offenders" fathers dying before the inmate reached his 17th bir thday.

~larriage More check offenders were married; whereas in the control group, 57 pe r

cent of the marriages were intact, only 38.9 per cent of the check offenders were still married. As noted in Table 1, check offenders tended to have a greater number of muhip le m~m-iages.

Health o] Inmates Rev iew of physical examination, medical history and pertinent: laboratory

findings noted by the prison physician revealed no significant phys ica l ! l lness in the groups, and although several of the prisoners had a history" of accidents or illness, there did not appear to b e a re la t ionshiP to the present offense. Thirty-four per cent of the check offeriders were reported to have had psychiatr ic care or evaluation compared with 24,7 per cent of the con- troI group with 9.2 per cent of the cheek group indicat ing a history, of drug abuse.

Criminal History of Inmates Almost half of the check offenders (48.7 per cent) had previously been in

iails, detention homes or camps and had a mean number of convictions of 3.1, while the control group had a mean of 0.7 convictions. The type of past offenses for which the check offenders were convicted are listed in Table 2.

478 DA~','~IS:, KAUSCIq( A N D C O C I I R O S

Fig. 1 . ~ N f e a n 3 IMPI profiles of 70 cheek offenders and 1,313 inmates reported by Panton.

T Score

80

,,,:/0

6o A

I ' 40

k F X

Check Offenders Control Group

v

Hs D HyPO MFPA Pt Sc MA Si

Thus , 57.5 p e r cen t of p rev ious ar res ts w e r e for offenses a p p a r e n t l y unre- l a t ed to check-pass ing ,

Present Offezise F r o m the ev idence ava i lab le , it a p p e a r s t ha t of 76 check offenders , 54

p e r cen t pa s sed checks in an impuls ive m a n n e r w i t h o u t exhib i t ing ev idence of a p p r e c i a b l e skill or fo re though t . As m a n y as 45 pe r cen t i nd ica t ed tha t the m o n e y o b t a i n e d f rom the check offense was used for the p u r c h a s e of alcohol, w i th a th i rd c l a iming tha t they w e r e d r i n k i n g a t the t ime of the offense.

T h e check of fenders t e n d e d to pass their checks in sma~ll communi t i e s wi th ove r taalf of the check offenses t ak ing p lace in communi t i e s of less than 10,000 popu la t ion . T h i r t y p e r cen t of the cheeks w e r e payro l l or persona l notes , w h e r e a s the majori t) , (64 p e r cen t ) , w e r e c o u n t e r checks , w h i c h in 76 pe r cen t of the ins tances w e r e o b t a i n e d a n d ca shed at e i the r g roee D" stores or bars . A lmos t two- th i rds (64 pe r cen t ) , i nd ica t ed tha t the i r offenses w e r e com- mi t t ed w i t h o u t accompl ices .

Diagnostic Impression O n the basLs ot da t a o b t a i n e d t h r o u g h the s t r u c t u r e d in te rv iew, a d iagnos t i c

f o r m u l a t i o n w a s a r r ived at, ( T h e s t a n d a r d set of cr i ter ia used for pu rposes of classif icat ion m a y be o b t a i n e d f rom the au tho r s . ) T h e fo l lowing d is t r ibu- tion of p sych ia t r i c d i sorders w a s uncove red : c h a r a c t e r d isorder , ~3 p e r cen t ,and a lcohol ism, 22 pe r cen t ( b o t h of wh ich ove r l ap in d i agnos t i c ca t egor i e s ) ; o rgan ic b ra in s y n d r o m e , 4 pe r cent ; sch iozphren ia , 8 p e r cent; m e n t a l re- t a rda t ion , 6 p e r cent ; a n d s i tua t iona l a d j u s t m e n t reac t ion , 6 pe r cent . T h e r e m a i n i n g 8 p e r cen t of the s a m p l e w e r e f o u n d to be f ree of a m e n t a l disorder .

No specific d iagnosis was m a d e on the basis of the M M P I . H o w e v e r , the m e a n profile for 70 chc.ck of fenders is s u m m a r i z e d in Fig . 1 and is com- p a r e d to the m e a n profile of 1,313 inmates conv ic ted of va r i ed cr imes as r e p o r t e d by P a n t o n ? A c o m p a r i s o n of the ten clinical scales a p p e a r s to show the s imilar i ty bt~tween these two g roups of inmates .

C . I / A I l A C ' I " E l t l S T I C S O F C I I E C K O F F E N D E I 1 S 479

D~scussloN

A number of the results reported above are directly' relevant to the data cited ial previous research dealing with the cheek offender. The sample of check offenders studied was significantly older than the control prison population, was comprised entirely of Caucasians and did not have a repre,senta- t ire of the Jewish faith. These characteristics are in general accord with the findings of Guze, et. al. ~ However, while several studies *.'~,s point out that check offenders are better educated and tend to be more intelligent than a residual prison population, our results do not support this notion. In terms of educational level attained and scores on achievement tests, the check of_ fender appears to be no different from men convicted of other crimes. The previous literature also frequently describes check men as being unusually bright, cunning, or skilled. While it is dear ly evident that a wide range of intelligence test scores were found in the check group, there is a marked skewing of scores to the lower end of the distribution. These results con- trast markedly with McDonald's s findings, where 42 per cent of his sample had IQs above 110.

The occupational status of the present sample of check offenders is comprised largely of agricultural workers (21 per cent) and unskilled or semi- skilled laborers (51 per cent). Within the check group the majori~;, reported having difl3euI~: maintaining a job and frequently were dismissed from their jobs. This evidence of unstable employment, as well as inability to get along with authority, is further reflected in the military histories where 35 per cent of those who had military experience received dishonorable or general discharges. VVhile Guze, et al. * reported a higher incidence of eourtsmartial, fines, and imprisonments (75 per cent), and noted that 42 per cent received discharges other than honorable, their sample population tended to be older and 95 per cent had been previously imprisoned

The majority of our sample came from the type of family often character- ized as contributing to criminal behavior; namely, large families with parents either divorced or deceased. Over half of the offenders" parents" marriages were terminated by either death or divorce before the offender's 18th birth- day. Fur ther instability with respect to family structure is noted in the marital relationship.

Two-thirds of the check group had been married (21 of them more than once) and the majority (61 per cent) were either divorced or separated from their wives at the time of their apprehension. The major reason given for marital discord was that of financial problems. Guze's study 4 also noted an extremely high proportion of marital discord, with 93 per cent of his married sample having experienced serious eonfliet.

Our sample of check offenders had a higher rate of previous convictions for at broader range of criminal acts than did the control group. The previous of[enses of this sample tended to be of a nonassaultive nature and were generally crimes involving property. While the higher incidence of previous of[crises in the check group may be partially attributed to the relative ages

"-~0 DAVIS, KAUSCH AND GOCItI:tOS

of the groups, it is noted that the check offenders ahnost wi thout exception had had mul t ip le forewarnings and brushes wi th tt.m law regarding their check offenses, f requent /y hav ing been "bailed out" by fami ly in the past or incarcera ted for br ief periods in city or county jails. McDona ld s has also noted the t endency for check offenders to have been convicted for a wide variet'y of offenses prior to their conviction for a check offense, and Guze, et. al2 found that 95 per cent of their sample had been previously convicted and impr i soned and 50 .per c e n t had served sentences in a state prison or inter- med ia te reformatory.

The association be tween check offenses and alcohol has been noted before (Guze et. al., "~ Hayner , ~ and McDonaldS) . It was felt that in ottr sample the check wri t ing m a y have been a means to obtain ready access to alcohol; almost ha l f of the sample did indicate some association be tween them. In some instances it appeared that once trader the influence of alcohol, poor judgxnent migh t lead to wri t ing checks for more money than the person had.

Compar ison with McDonald ' s study s in which the sample was d rawn from menta l hospitals as well as state peni tent iar ies and court referrals shows a s imilar percentage of organic cases (4 per cent), with his prewdence for schizophrenia 3.3 per cent, man ia 2.5 per cent, and 59 per cent for alcoholism.

The findialgs of our s tudy lead to a n u m b e r of conclusions concerning the characteristics of the check offender and the nature of the crime. On the basis of the data discussed, the fol lowing recommendat ions seem warranted: (1) There should be psychffatric screening o f persons convieted of check offenses. (2) There is evidence from the mil i tary histor 3" to suggest that we are deal ing with a high-risk group, which at 34.9 per cent puni t ive discharges for check offenders, a l though a smaller n u m b e r than the controls (57.4 per cent), is still a relat ively significant percentage and it therefore seems rea- sonable to suggest that there should be special prevent ive programs for those d i scharged from mil i tary ser~4ce wi th general or puni t ive discharges and tha t there should be some liason be tween the militaD, mad civil ian agencies wi th regard to possible psychia t r ic care and job t raining and placement . (3) i n view of previous record of other offenses, there should be a screening procedure to predic t who is prone to check-passing in the future, par t icular ly among those in rural communit ies, and among eldest or only chi ldren convicted of other offenses. (4) There should be vigorous alcoholism t reatment programs and occupational t raining ~:nong the groups of check offenders in v iew of the d iscrepancy be tween their intel lectual level and job history. It wou ld seem desirable to continue making counter 6hecks less freely avail- a b l e .

W e suggest that the implementa t ion of such programs migh t wel l con- t r ibute toward lessening the occurrence or reoccurrence of the cheek offense.

SU~,[.XfARY

Seventy-sLx men imprisoned in a state peni tent iary for the first t ime for check offenses were subjected to a structured fiaterview and psychological testing. Similar diata were ga thered from a control group of 73 inmates con-

CHAIIACTERISTICS OF CHECK OFFENDERS 48I

fined for the first time for crhnes other than check offenses. The following findings emerged: the check offenders were significantly older, more were white, more were eldest or only children, more had militau, experience but less difficulty ha service, more were married, and more had previous convictions than the control group: Fifty per cent of the check offenses occurred in communities of less than t0,000 population. The distribution of psychiatric disorders uncovered included character disorder, 63 per cent and alcoholism, 22 per cent (both of which overlap in diagnostic categories); organic brain syndrome, 4 per cent; schizophrenia, 8 per cent; mental retardation, 6 per cent; situational adjustment reaction, 6 per cent; and a remaining 8 per cent oi¢ the sample who were found to be free of mental disorder. Suggestions for prevention and rehabilitation are made on the basis of the findings.

A C K N O ~ V L E D G ~ E N T

The authors wish to thank Donald Bunker, Director, and the staff of the Classification Division of the Missouri State Penitentiary for their willing help and cooperation in this project.

REFERENCES

1. Berg, I.: A comparative study of forg- eD'. J. Appl. Psychol. 28:232, 1944.

2. Guilford, J. P.: Fundamental Statistics in Psychology and Education. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1950.

3. Gnze, S. 13., Tuason, V. B., Garfield, P. D., Stewart, M. A., and Picken, B.: Psy- chiatric illness and crime with particular reference to alcoholism: A study of 223 criminals. J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 134:51o 1962.

4. , , Stewart,. M. A., r'atfield, P. D., and Picken, B.: A study of check offenders. Dis. Nerv. Syst. o4:249, ]963.

5. Hayner, N. S.: Characteristics of five offender types. Amer. Soeiol. Rev. o6:96,

1961. 6, Lemert, E,: An isolation and closure

theory of naive check forger),. J. Crim. Law & Criminals 44:296, 1953.

7 . - - : The behavior of the systematic check forger. Soe. ProbI. 6:141, 1958.

8. McDonald, ]. M.: A psychiatric study of check offenders. Amer. J. Psychiat. 116: 438, 1959.

9. Panton, J. H.: MMPI profile configura- tions among crime classification groups. J. Clin. Psychol. 14:305, 1958.

I0. Dictionary of Occupational Titles (ed. 2). U. S. Employment Service, Division of Occupational Analysis, Govt. Printing Office, 1949.

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Psycho-social characteristics of check offenders