- Collection:
- Atlanta University and Clark Atlanta University Theses and Dissertations
- Title:
- Identification of potential wife abusers and abusees in a college population, 1981
- Creator:
- Dye, Mytice R.W.
- Date of Original:
- 1981-04-01
- Subject:
- Degrees, Academic
Dissertations, Academic - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
- Medium:
- theses
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- Purpose The purposes of the study were to ascertain the extent to which personality traits associated with battered women and battering men existed in a sample of black college freshmen who were of low socio-economic status and to determine the effects of exposure to physical violence within the family on the MMPI profiles of the same sample of college coeds. Procedure The subjects consisted of eighty college coeds, randomly selected from the population of black freshmen of low socio-economic status. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory was utilized to develop personality profiles. The study was focused on an analysis of the subjects' MMPI profiles in order to assess the degree to which the traits associated with battered women and battering men could be identified among a sample of black, low income college freshmen. A second instrument was administered in order to separate those students who had experienced violence within their families from those who had not encountered family violence. The purpose for this study was to collect data that could be used to find out how the two groups differed. The MMPI profiles were compared and analyzed in four ways: the female subjects were compared with the personality traits of battering women and the male subjects were compared with the personality traits of battering men. The female subjects who reported exposure to violence were compared with the females who reported no exposure. Males who had experienced family violence were compared with males who had experienced no family violence. Results Four null hypotheses were tested and all were accepted. Personality traits typically associated with battered women and battering men were not found at high risk levels among the majority of the sample of black, low income college freshman coeds. Instead, their mean scores were more indicative of those of a typical college population. Specifically, the Mf (Masculinity-Femininity) Scale, the R (Conscious Repression) Scale, the Dy (Dependency) Scale and the Es (Ego Strength) Scale were examined for the female subjects; and the Pd (Psychopathic Deviate Scale the Mf (Masculinity-Femininity) Scale, the Es (Ego Strength) Scale, the Do (Dominance) Scale and the Cn (Control) Scale were examined for the male subjects. Conclusions A review of the literature revealed that wife battering is more prevalent within the communities of the black, low income group. The findings of this study, however, differed in that respect. It is possible however, that the subjects of this investigation were not typical of the general population. Although the null hypotheses were accepted, some tendencies were noted when comparing subjects who had a history of family violence during childhood with subjects who did not have a history of family violence. Males who had been exposed to violence indicated a tendency to be more receptive to violent acts. Females who had been exposed to violence indicated a strong rejection of violent acts. While group means are very useful to professionals in the areas of psychological services, there was evidence in this investigation which indicated that individual assessments should be examined for identifying those with special needs. In conclusion, further research into the variables that contribute to the phenomenon of wife abuse, with an expressed focus on prevention, seems warranted. Finally, a carefully designed controlled longitudinal study which introduces the variable of preventive counseling to targeted groups, was a recommendation of this study.
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:1981_dye_mytice_r_w.pdf
- Rights Holder:
- Clark Atlanta University
- Holding Institution:
- Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library
- Rights:
-
