Sex Drawn First and Sex Drawn Larger by Opiate Addict and non-Addict Inmates on the Draw-A-Person Test

Abstract

Fifty-nine incarcerated opiate addicts and 66 incarcerated non-addicts were asked to “draw a person.” A significantly greater number of the addicts drew the female figure first when compared with the non-addicts and with normal males reported in a previous study. The opiate addict inmates also drew the female figure larger than the male figure, while the non-addicts did not draw either the male or the female figure larger. These results support the psychoanalytic postulates of maternal identification and sexual confusion in male opiate addicts. The results also illustrate the utilization of quantitative research methods with projective techniques such as the DAP.