title: Personality characteristics of self-mutilating male prisoners.
abstract: Self-mutilating behavior (SMB) in prisons has long been recognized as a problem. MMPI data were obtained from 30 mutilating and 30 non-mutilating male inmates. Analyses of MMPI scores revealed significant differences on nine of the clinical and validity scales. Mutilators also had more frequent elevations over 70. Interpretation of scale and subscale configurations indicates that mutilators have more somatic complaints, subjective distress, alienation, inmature defenses, and acting out tendencies than controls. This is consistent with descriptions of SMB in the literature. SMB is conceptualized as a form of aggression in a population of impulsive and alienated individuals in a high-stress environment. The frustration-aggression model is proposed as a model for understanding and further investigating this phenomenon.
authors.affiliation: University of South Carolina School of Medicine.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Shea
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008950:MMPI; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010551:Personality; D011329:Prisoners; D012652:Self Mutilation / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States