Prediction of Recidivism by Sex and Number of Siblings
Recent research (Horton & Medley, 1977) has suggested a significant relationship may exist between the recidivism rates of criminal offenders and one type of family configuration variable, birth order. Family configuration variables have previously been found to be significantly related to intelligence (Zajonc, 1976) and a number of personality constructs (Surton-Smith & Rosenberg, 1970). The present study sought to determine if two other family configuration variables. sex and number of siblings, could be used as joint predictors of criminal recidivism. Subjects were 396 adult male offenders who completed a 10-item questionnaire during intake classification interviews. Four variables [number of older brothers (M = 1.03, a = 1.47), number of older sisters (M = 34, u = 1.27), number of younger brothers (M = 1.28, u = 1.42). number of younger sisters (M = 1.18, a = 1.36)] were formed to represent the joint effects of sex and number of siblings. Outcome criteria were number of prior incarcerations and number of months of incarceration. Standard multiple regression analyses were computed, using the set of family-configuration variables, for each outcome criterion variable in turn. The family-configuration variable of number of older sisters (M = .94, u = 1.27) was significantly related to both number of prior incarcerations (M = 1.60, a = .72; F1.m = 4.66, P < .05) and number of months of incarceration (M = 12.45, a = 28.75; FI,SII = 6.54, P < .01). While the practical significance of these findings is limited by the modest 4 values obtained, .Ol and .02, respectively, cross-validation of these results might yield potentially valuable insights into the personality structures of habitual criminal offenders.