Ethnicity, Criminality, and the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory

Abstract

Scores on the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI) were analyzed in relation to violent versus nonviolent criminality and ethnic group membership within a sample of adult, male offenders. Although the white, Mexican-American, and black subjects differed on both psychometric and criminological variables, there was no statistically significant association between these predictors and criteria for either the total sample or the individual ethnic groups. The results were seen to contradict recent claims regarding the validity of the BDHI as a discriminator of violent behavior.