Sex differences in the solitary and assaultive fantasies of delinquent and nondelinquent adolescents.

Self-images expressed in response to the Draw-A-Story task were examined for differences in gender, age, and delinquency. Subjects included 64 adolescents in detention in California and 74 normal controls attending schools in Ohio, New York, and Florida; 82 were males (53 delinquents, 29 controls); 56 were females (11 delinquents, 45 controls). Their ages ranged between 13 and 17. The first analysis evaluated whether gender or delinquency was related to self-image scores. No significant differences were found. The second analysis evaluated whether the proportions of drawings about solitary subjects or assaultive relationships differed depending on gender or delinquency. Significant gender differences were found in both solitary and assaultive content. The findings of assaultive content were reversed for solitary content. For assaultive content, the differences in proportion between male and female control subjects reached significance. The difference between male and female delinquents did not reach significance. Control males differed significantly from control females, but delinquent males did not differ significantly from delinquent females. Solitary content also distinguished between delinquent and control groups, as well as gender. The gender difference was large in the control group but small in the delinquent group. Delinquent female drawings were more like the male drawings of both groups. Thus greater gender differences were found among normal adolescents than among delinquent adolescents. Implications of the findings for access to fantasies and to screen for emotional needs are discussed.