Mental Ability, School Achievement, and Language Arts Achievement in the Prediction of Delinquency

Abstract

A random sample of delinquent and non-delinquent ninth-grade boys and girls drawn from a statewide population of 11,329 were compared on high school rank, language arts achievement, and general ability with a group of “disturbed” delinquents and “disturbed” non-delinquent ninth-grade students in the state of Minnesota. The latter two groups were selected by their primed scores on scales 4 (Psychopathic deviate), 8 (Schizophrenia), and 9 (Hypomania) of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. These scales had been shown to be related to delinquency. The results of this study suggest that High School Rank, when combined with the “delinquency prone” rating from the MMPI, will improve the prediction of delinquency for both boys and girls, and the Cooperative English Test will enhance the prediction of delinquency for girls.