Date of Award

1995

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Leadership PhD

First Advisor

Elsie P. Jackson

Second Advisor

Donna J. Habenicht

Third Advisor

Wilfred G. Futcher

Abstract

Problem. Juvenile sexual offenders constitute a significant percentage of the total offender population. This study sought to determine whether the KFD and the HFD can be useful in identifying male juvenile sexual offenders by identifying specific characteristics in their drawings that differentiate them from the general population.

Method. KFDs, HFDs, and demographic information were collected from 401 male general subjects and 49 male juvenile sexual offenders ages 8 to 17. Forty-three KFD and 30 HFD dependent variables involving emotional and behavioral indicators and sexual symbols were analyzed by Chi-Square Analysis and Discriminant Analysis. Significance was set at .05.

Results. There were significant differences between the KFDs and HFDs of juvenile sexual offenders as compared to general subjects. Offenders more often: (1) omitted facial features on the father; (2) omitted the body, arms, hands, and feet on the mother and father figures,- (3) omitted the father and mother figures from their drawings,- (4) drew a long neck on the mother figure,- (5) drew a mother figure that showed lack of nurture,- (6) drew distance between self and the mother and father figures; (7) drew slanting figures; (8) drew KFDs in which the evaluator would not like to live in the family,- (9) drew dangerous objects and activities; and (10) drew barriers between the mother and father figures. Offenders, when drawing a human figure, more often drew: (1) short arms, (2) teeth, (3) large hands, (4) large feet, (5) arms without hands or fingers, (6) dangerous objects. They less often drew with (l) transparencies and (2) dangerous activities.

Conclusions. The KFDs of juvenile sexual offenders were significantly different from the general population in 23 of the 43 dependent variables. The HFDs of the offender group were significantly different in 9 variables. These analyses suggest that child and adolescent sexual offenders may be identified by their KFDs and HFDs.

Subject Area

Sex offenders, Teenage sex offenders, Kinetic Family Drawing Test.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dissertations/581/

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