The use of defense mechanisms among adolescent boys diagnosed as conduct-disordered, depressed and normal.
Item
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Title
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The use of defense mechanisms among adolescent boys diagnosed as conduct-disordered, depressed and normal.
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Identifier
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AAI9924818
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identifier
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9924818
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Creator
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Hernandez, William.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Vera S. Paster
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Date
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1999
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical | Psychology, Developmental
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Abstract
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This study sought to examine how often adolescent boys diagnosed as Conduct Disordered, Depressed, and "Normal" used the defense mechanisms of denial, projection and identification. A total of 54, 12 to 16 year old Hispanic and African-American males were grouped according to psychological evaluations as Conduct Disordered (n = 19), Depressed (n = 17) and Normal (n = 18). To assess the use of these defenses the Thematic Apperception Test (Morgan and Murray, 1935) stories of each subject were scored using Cramer's Defense Mechanism Manual (1991). Results indicated that boys classified as Normal used identification significantly more often than the clinical groups (P-value = .000). Conduct Disordered boys tended to use denial more on average than the other two groups (P-value = .063). Depressed boys did not rely on any one particular defense. Instead, they used several of the components of the three defenses, but not more so, or less so than did the other boys. As a result, the use of any of these defenses did not predict membership in the Depressed group. The findings also indicated that as all subjects emphasized the use of denial they deemphasized the use of identification and vice-versa.;Future studies should include larger samples of clinical and normal populations to allow more reliable statistical comparisons among these groups. In addition, the examination of additional defense mechanisms would provide a more complete profile of defense structures.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
