The Rorschach, Assessment of Children and Adolescents

by Exner, John E.; Weiner, Irving B.

• ISBN13: 9780471559276
• ISBN10: 047155927X
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1994-12-13
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Volume 3: Assessment of Children and Adolescents provides practical, authoritative guidance in the Rorschach assessment of personality functioning in young people and in the identification of psychological disorders and developmental difficulties. Supported by conceptual formulations and research evidence, this text helps clinical and counseling psychologists deepen their understanding of the Rorschach and sharpen their skill in administering it. The Second Edition includes new material on the issue of projection, revised normative data on young people age 5 to 16, and a demonstration of the recently developed Comprehensive System "search strategy" for interpreting children's and adolescents' records. New to this edition also are sections on interpreting the Schizophrenia Index (SCZI), the Depression Index (DEPI), the Coping Deficit Index (CDI), and the Hypervigilence Index (HVI), and a discussion of bipolar disorder and the dynamic interplay of mania and depression. Subsequent chapters present new formulations of faltering personality development and antisocial behavior and new information on the assessment of learning disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A final chapter offers new material on Rorschach-based recommendations in child custody disputes. Throughout the text, explanatory concepts and empirical data are used to link features of normal and abnormal development with response patterns on the Rorschach, which are then linked to concrete criteria for diagnosis and treatment planning. The authors provide fourteen case studies to demonstrate clearly the application of these principles in clinical practice. Based on a system that has, over time, demonstrated both its validity and reliability, this book is an essential resource for all psychologists practicing, teaching, supervising, or researching personality assessment of children and adolescents.

Author Biography

John E. Exner, Jr., born in Syracuse, New York, was an American psychologist. He received a BS and an MS degree in psychology from Trinity University and a PhD in clinical psychology from Cornell University in 1958.

Irving B. Weiner, PhD, is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and behavioral Medicine at the University of South Florida and former Director of Psychological Services at the University of South Florida Psychiatry Center in Tampa, Florida. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and of the Association for Psychological Science, a Diplomat of the American board of Professional Psychology in both Clinical and Forensic Psychology, and a licensed psychologist in the state of Florida and is in the practice of clinical and forensic psychology. He is the author of numerous articles and books, and Editor-in-Chief of the 12-volume Handbook of Psychology.

Table of Contents

PART I INTERPRETATION AND THE YOUNGER CLIENT
The Nature and Interpretation of the Rorschach	3	(11)
Objective and Subjective Features of Rorschach Data	3	(3)
Empirical and Conceptual Approaches to Rorschach Interpretation	6	(5)
Evaluating the Rorschachs of Younger Clients	11	(3)
Rorschach and the Younger Client	14	(27)
Attributes of the Response Process	14	(2)
Phase 1 of the Response Process: Initial Input	16	(1)
Phase 2 of the Response Process: Sets of the Subject	16	(3)
Phase 3 of the Response Process: Final Selection of Answers	19	(2)
Temporal Consistency of Rorschach Variables	21	(6)
The Issue of Projection in the Rorschach	27	(2)
Summary of the Response Process	29	(1)
Collecting the Protocol	30	(4)
Retesting after a Brief Period	34	(4)
Some Conclusions	38	(3)
Normative Data and the Interpretive Process	41	(40)
Some Aspects of Normality	42	(2)
The Normative Data	44	(6)
The Normative Samples	50	(31)
The Interpretive Process: Some Nonpatient Records	81	(50)
The Interpretive Process	82	(3)
An 8-Year-Old Male	85	(7)
Interpretive Routine for Case 1	92	(6)
A 14-Year-Old Male	98	(8)
Interpretive Routine for Case 2	106	(6)
A 9-Year-Old Female	112	(7)
Interpretive Routine for Case 3	119	(12)
PART II ISSUES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA AND DEPRESSION
Issues of Schizophrenia	131	(54)
Personality Impairment in Schizophrenia	133	(3)
Rorschach Indices of Disordered Thinking	136	(6)
Rorschach Indices of Inaccurate Perception	142	(3)
Rorschach Indices of Interpersonal Ineptness	145	(2)
Rorschach Indices of Inadequate Controls	147	(1)
Diagnostic Decisions	148	(6)
Chronicity	154	(3)
Paranoid Status	157	(5)
Some Reference Data	162	(1)
Immaturity and Underachievement	162	(10)
Interpretive Routine for Case 4	172	(13)
Issues of Depression	185	(46)
Dimensions of Affective Disorder	187	(2)
Dimensions of Affective Disorder in Children and Adolescents	189	(1)
The Dynamic Interplay of Depression and Mania	190	(1)
Rorschach Indices of Disturbed Mood	191	(1)
Rorschach Indices of Disturbed Attitudes	192	(1)
Rorschach Indices of Disturbed Energy Level	193	(1)
Rorschach Indices of Disturbed Physical Status	194	(1)
Diagnostic Decisions	194	(5)
Truancy	199	(9)
Interpretive Routine for Case 5	208	(9)
Other Considerations in Differential Diagnosis	217	(5)
Suicidal Behavior	222	(9)
PART III OTHER ISSUES
Faltering Personality Development	231	(54)
Categories of Flawed or Faltering Personality	232	(1)
Core Problems	233	(3)
Some Rorschach Clues to a Faltering Personality	236	(8)
The Passive Style and Interpersonal Problems	244	(2)
Case Illustrations	246	(1)
Social Isolation	246	(8)
Interpretive Routine for Case 6	254	(8)
Summary	262	(1)
Disruptive Behavior	263	(9)
Interpretive Routine for 7	272	(9)
Summary	281	(4)
Problems in Behavior	285	(54)
Socialized Misconduct	285	(1)
Characterological Misconduct	286	(2)
Neurotic Misconduct	288	(1)
Psychotic and Neurologically Related Misconduct	289	(1)
Rorschach Assessment of Problem Behavior	290	(1)
Some Rorschach Features of Character-Disordered Youngsters	291	(5)
Rorschach Features of Anxious/Dysphoric Antisocial Youngsters	296	(6)
An Undersocialized Conduct Disorder	302	(9)
Interpretive Routine for Case 8	311	(7)
Summary	318	(1)
Socialized Aggression in a Conduct Disorder	319	(8)
Interpretive Routine for 9	327	(7)
Summary---Case 9	334	(5)
School Learning Problems	339	(42)
Limited Intelligence	340	(3)
An Issue of Intellectual Limitations	343	(7)
Interpretive Routine for Case 10	350	(6)
Summary---Case 10	356	(1)
Specific Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorder	357	(4)
An Issue of Learning Disability	361	(8)
Interpretive Routine for Case 11	369	(8)
Summary---Case 11	377	(4)
Custody Issues	381	(36)
The Rorschach and the Court	382	(1)
Custody Evaluations	383	(3)
Rorschach-Based Recommendations or Testimony	386	(1)
Cases from a Custody Dispute	387	(1)
The Issue	387	(1)
The Child	388	(8)
The Rorschach Findings---Case 12	396	(1)
The Mother	397	(7)
The Rorschach Findings---Case 13	404	(1)
The Father	405	(8)
The Rorschach Findings---Case 14	413	(1)
Comparing the Parents	414	(1)
The Outcome	415	(2)
Author Index	417	(4)
Subject Index	421