The MMPI Profile of Opiate Addicts of Iran: Evidence from Shiraz

This paper deals with the constitutionality of involuntary treatment of opiate addicts. Although the first laws permitting involuntary treatment of opiate addicts were enacted in the second half of the nineteenth century, addicts were not committed in large numbers until California and New York enacted new civil commitment legislation in the 1960s. Inevitably, the courts were called upon to decide if involuntary treatment was constitutional. Both the California and New York courts decided that it was. These decisions were heavily influenced by statements made by the United States Supreme Court in Robinson v. California. The Robinson case did not actually involve the constitutionality of involuntary treatment; it involved the question of whether it was constitutional for a state to make addiction a crime. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court declared (in a dictum) that a state might establish a program of compulsory treatment for opiate addicts either to discourage violation of its criminal laws against narcotic trafficking or to safeguard the general health or welfare of its inhabitants. Presumably because the Robinson case did not involve the constitutionality of involuntary treatment of opiate addicts, the Supreme Court did not go into that question as deeply as it might have. The California and New York courts, in turn, relied too much on this dictum and did not delve deeply into the question. The New York courts did a better job than the California courts, but their work too was not as good as it should have been.

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Methodological Note on Deriving Behavioral Correlates for MMPI Profile Patterns: Case of the Female 4-5-6 Configuration

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1982.50.3c.1071 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 50 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. 1071-1076 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Glenn D. Walters ◽

Gary S. Solomon

Keyword(s):

Social Skills ◽

Self Report ◽

Psychiatric Outpatients ◽

Control Groups ◽

Behavioral Correlates ◽

Matched Group ◽

Profile Similarity ◽

And Control ◽

Mmpi Profile

An attempt was made to identify the empirical correlates of an MMPI configuration involving Scales 4 (Pd), 5 (Mf), and 6 (Pa) in a sample of 21 female psychiatric outpatients. Two sets of comparisons were derived. In the first comparison, 21 4-5-6 and control patients were matched on age and contrasted on selected behavioral and self-report measures. Results suggested that 4-5-6 patients displayed greater ambivalence, depression, and lack of social skills than control patients. In the second comparison, 18 4-5-6 and control females were matched on profile similarity (excluding Scales 4, 5, and 6) using the D2 procedure and then compared on various behavioral and self-report measures. This comparison showed fewer and somewhat different (indecision, need for affection) correlates relative to the age-matched group. These findings are discussed in terms of implementing appropriate procedures when defining control groups for the study of MMPI profile patterns.

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