Female violence and personality - Evidence for a pattern of overcontrolledhostility among one-time violent female offenders

The present study investigated the validity of the overcontrolled hostility construct in explaining violent crime among 186 female state-prison inmate s who were classified as nonviolent (NV), one-time violent (OV), or repeat violent (RV) offenders. The women's prison records were reviewed, and a com plete Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (2nd ed.) (MMPI-2) protoc ol and Spielberger et al.'s Anger Expression Scale were administered. Overc ontrolled Hostility (O-H) scale scores on the MMPI-2 effectively differenti ated the OV group from the NV and RV offender groups. The OV women were ove rrepresented among female violent offenders, had significantly shorter nonv iolent criminal histories than the other two groups, and were more likely t o have committed an extremely violent act than the RV group. The RV offende rs reported greater acting out when angered and exhibited more prison aggre ssion compared to the other two groups. These data highlight the importance of the overcontrolled hostility construct and the undercontrolled/overcont rolled distinction in the analysis of violent offending among female inmate s.