ATTITUDES AND PERSONALITY-TRAITS OF FEMALE-ADULT VICTIMS OF CHILDHOODABUSE - A COMPARISON OF UNIVERSITY-STUDENTS AND INCARCERATED WOMEN

A survey of 39 University undergraduate female students and 13 incarce rated female victims was undertaken to investigate the personality tra its of victims of sexual abuse. The University population was comprise d of 24 non-victims and 15 victims. A comparison of the three groups w as completed with a battery of psychometric tests examining personalit y style, and a survey of their attitudes toward sexual offenders. Sign ificant differences emerged on trait and state anxiety; on clinical sc ales of the MMPI, and the hostility scale of the Suicide Probability S cale. There was unanimous agreement among all three groups surveyed (1 00%) that sex offenders should receive treatment. Moreover, there was also a consensus amongst university students (100%) that sex offenders should be incarcerated for two years or more, whereas only 53.8% of i ncarcerated victims considered a sentence of two or more years appropr iate.