The relationship of the type of defense mechanism utilized and locus of control to the probability of recovery for a sample of alcoholics

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to show that the defensemechanisms utilized by internal alcoholics will be differentfrom those utilized by external alcoholics. It is also thepurpose of the present study to show that internal alcoholicscompared to external aloholics have a higher probabilityof recovery. It was hypothesized that alcoholics utilizingdefenses such as `Turning Against Self`, `Intellectualization`and `Reversal` would score on the internal end of theLocus of Control Scale (I-E) while alcoholics utilizingdefenses such as `Turning Against Object` and `Projection`would score on the external end of the Locus of Control Scale(I-E). It was also hypothesized that alcoholics classifiedas low on the I-E scale and falling in the `Turning AgainstSelf` group of the Defense Mechanism Inventory /,ould have ahigher probability of recovery compared to alcoholicsclassified as high on the I-E scale and falling in the`Turning Against Object` group of the Defense MechanismInventory. The defense mechanisms were measured by theDefense Mechanism Inventory (DMI), the internality and.externality dimension was measured by The Locus of ControlScale (I-E) which were given to 50 alcoholics in Baklrkoy Ruhve Sinir Hastalıkları Hastanesi.The general results suggest that Internal Subjectstend to'Reversal' use defenses like 'Turning Against Self' andmore than External Subjects do and Externalsubjects tend to use the defense of 'Turning Against Object'more than Internal subjects. Additionally, defenses such as'Turning Against Object' and 'Projection' and defenses suchas 'Intellectualization' , 'Turning Against Self' and'Reversal' tend to group together as previously predicted.Finally, t Reversal' was found to be the only defense mechanismthat was significantly correlated with the recoverylevel predicted by the psychiatrist and psychologists.