COMMENTS ON PERSONALITY AND DELINQUENCY

Abstract

The paper by Forrest (1977), on which this brief note is a comment, is of such high quality that I would not wish any of my remarks to be taken as criticisms of the design, execution or analysis of the study. My comments reflect rather a puzzlement over certain facts which have become apparent in the course of the many studies carried out in the attempt to find personality correlates of delinquency. The most apparent of these is the notable difference in outcome between studies otherwise largely comparable. Thus Forrest fails to find evidence of implication for E and N in most of his comparisons; yet, in a very similar sample, Foggitt (1974) found loadings of 0.44 for E and 0.42 for N on a general delinquency factor embracing all the major criminal activities of the sample! Of the two, E was particularly related to “destructiveness and violence”, “frequency of violence”, and group delinquency, while N was particularly closely related to attempted suicide and vagrancy.