This study examines the quality of forensic assessments conducted by mental health professionals to determine competency to stand trial. Data were collected from 68 cases involving Rule 11 proceedings in the Superior Court of the State of Arizona for Pima County from 1986 through 1989. Two raters independently evaluated the court order forms and rated each report on recommended assessment and reporting procedures. Percent agreement and Cohen's Kappa results revealed moderate to excellent inter-rater reliability. These results suggested that competency to stand trial assessments lacked basic information recommended by acknowledged experts and written Arizona Bar Association (A.B.A.) standards. Implications of these findings suggest the establishment of a multi-disciplinary panel to examine and evaluate the court order forms and utilization of assessment and reporting procedures in Competency to Stand Trial proceedings.

No description available.

This PhD aimed to understand the constructs of aggression motivation and inhibition among prisoners. The research explored the role of developmental, affect, personality and socio-cognitive factors in aggression, investigating how these factors contributed to motives and inhibitors. This addressed several gaps in our knowledge and understanding of these factors among prisoners. In doing so, it contributed to the proposal of an empirically informed developmental model of aggression motivation and inhibition for prisoners, a model potentially capable of accounting for the theoretical and clinical limitations of existing explanatory models. Study one involved 206 adult men from a medium secure prison. This study specifically examined the role of aggression (using the Aggression Motivation Questionnaire, AMQ; Ireland, 2007) and offence motivation (with the Offence Motivation Questionnaire, OMQ; Gudjonsson & Sigurdsson, 2004) and affect (using the Multidimensional Anger Inventory, MAI; Sigel, 1989). Contrary to predictions, aggression motivation extended beyond the traditional reactive versus proactive distinction, with four core motivations identified. Further challenging the previous dichotomous distinction were findings that affect was related to all motivations and not just reactive aggression. The structure of offence motivation was consistent with previous research suggesting the validity of such motivation. Relationships found between individual offence and aggression motives supported longstanding notions in the human motivation and rationale choice literature that a limited number of motivations are capable of accounting for the diversity of human behaviour. Study one strengthens the argument to further examine and understand the factors contributing to such aggression motivations, such as cognition or developmental and life course experiences. Study two recruited 210 adult male prisoners to examine the developmental and socio-cognitive factors underpinning aggression motivations. Confirmation as to the structure of aggression motivation was also evaluated. It was predicted that differing developmental and socio-cognitive factors would relate to each motivation. Analysis supported this and thus further understanding was achieved as to the contribution of these factors. Reformulation of existing developmental models of aggression and the importance of social cognition for adult prisoners were consequently highlighted. However, attempts to confirm the four-factor solution for aggression motivation identified in Study 1 was not achieved. Exploratory factor analysis supported the extraction of a three-component solution from the AMQ, which was underpinned by ‘protection’, ‘pleasure’ and ‘positive outcomes’ motivations. This raised doubt as to the underlying structure of aggression motivation, which required further examination. Study three involved 234 prisoners from two separate prisons. All participants were adult men. This study facilitated the further exploration of maladaptive personality and affect regulation strategies in aggression motivation. Evaluation of the components of aggression inhibition was also undertaken. As expected, personality and affect regulation strategies were individually associated with aggression motives and inhibitors. This suggested that these factors had a unique contribution to aggression motivations and inhibitors. A four component structure for aggression inhibition was identified through exploratory factor analysis. The three factor structure for aggression motivation indicated by Study 2 was supported by confirmatory factor analysis. The findings gained from this study were combined with previous studies and influenced the development of the Applied Integrated Model of Aggression Motivation (AIM-AM). This new proposed integrated model of aggression is described in detail in the last Chapter of this thesis. The current research highlights the importance of considering aggression motivation and inhibition by demonstrating how valuable information to assist our understanding of aggression can be enhanced through their detailed examination. This research points towards a range of underlying factors which motivate and inhibit aggression in prisoners, including personality traits, developmental and life experiences, cognition and affect regulation. This was drawn together in the AIM-AM, which remains the first proposed aggression model developed specifically from the study of forensic populations. This applied theoretical model and underpinning research has a range of research and clinical implications for those working with prisoners, such as guiding the psychological assessment and risk evaluations of prisoners and focusing interventions to reduce their likelihood of aggression.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--New York University. / Reproduction of original from Yale Law School Library. Bibliography: p. 5-8.

No description available.

There were two purposes to the current set of studies. The first was to test the validity of the Adaptiveness of Defenses Scale (ADS), a new measure developed to assess variability within ego defense mechanisms. Study 1 addressed the validity of the ADS with a sample of 104 male undergraduates. The ADS was hypothesized to account for significant unique variance on dependent measures (the PAI, ECR, and final grade in introductory psychology) beyond that accounted for by the Defense-Q. Regression analyses showed that a different pattern emerged. The Defense-Q and ADS accounted for different aspects of the dependent variables, with the Defense-Q predicting PAI Somatization scale scores and the ADS predicting ECR avoidance scale scores. Study 2 addressed the validity of the ADS with a sample of 64 male federal inmates. The ADS was hypothesized to account for significant unique variance on dependent measures (the BPI, PCL-R, and PAS) beyond that accounted for by the Defense-Q. As with Study 1, the two measures tended to predict different aspects of the dependent measures. The Defense-Q predicted immature defense factor scores on the BPI as well as BPI total score, and it predicted affective instability factor scores on the PAS, as well as PAS total score. Conversely, the ADS predicted PCL-R total and Factor 1 scores. The relation between the Defense-Q ADP similarity score and the PCL-R interpersonal facet was significantly positive, while the relation between the ADS total score and this facet was significantly negative. The results of Studies 1 and 2 suggest that the ADS captures an aspect of defensive functioning different from that measured by the Defense-Q, likely related to interpersonal functioning. Study 3 examined the relation between defenses (measured by the Defense-Q and ADS) and correctional variables (offense history, institutional incidents, institutional charges, urinalysis outcomes, and correctional program outcomes), as well as examined Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal differences. The differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal inmates tended to show that non-Aboriginal inmates were older and had more aggressive criminal histories as well as higher PCL-R total and Factor 1 scores. They also tended to have more problematic institutional adjustments, likely because of their higher levels of psychopathy. The Defense-Q was significantly related to general offence history for Aboriginal inmates and the ADS was significantly related to violence history for non-Aboriginal inmates, but other significant relations were sparse. The results of the current series of studies provides preliminary support for the idea that individual defenses have their own ranges of adaptiveness, as the ADS scores male undergraduates and male inmates were significantly different for the same defenses. Given the pattern of the relations of the ADS to the dependent variables, it appears that the ADS is sensitive to interpersonal functioning.

There were two purposes to the current set of studies. The first was to test the validity of the Adaptiveness of Defenses Scale (ADS), a new measure developed to assess variability within ego defense mechanisms. Study 1 addressed the validity of the ADS with a sample of 104 male undergraduates. The ADS was hypothesized to account for significant unique variance on dependent measures (the PAI, ECR, and final grade in introductory psychology) beyond that accounted for by the Defense-Q. Regression analyses showed that a different pattern emerged. The Defense-Q and ADS accounted for different aspects of the dependent variables, with the Defense-Q predicting PAI Somatization scale scores and the ADS predicting ECR avoidance scale scores. Study 2 addressed the validity of the ADS with a sample of 64 male federal inmates. The ADS was hypothesized to account for significant unique variance on dependent measures (the BPI, PCL-R, and PAS) beyond that accounted for by the Defense-Q. As with Study 1, the two measures tended to predict different aspects of the dependent measures. The Defense-Q predicted immature defense factor scores on the BPI as well as BPI total score, and it predicted affective instability factor scores on the PAS, as well as PAS total score. Conversely, the ADS predicted PCL-R total and Factor 1 scores. The relation between the Defense-Q ADP similarity score and the PCL-R interpersonal facet was significantly positive, while the relation between the ADS total score and this facet was significantly negative. The results of Studies 1 and 2 suggest that the ADS captures an aspect of defensive functioning different from that measured by the Defense-Q, likely related to interpersonal functioning. Study 3 examined the relation between defenses (measured by the Defense-Q and ADS) and correctional variables (offense history, institutional incidents, institutional charges, urinalysis outcomes, and correctional program outcomes), as well as examined Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal differences. The differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal inmates tended to show that non-Aboriginal inmates were older and had more aggressive criminal histories as well as higher PCL-R total and Factor 1 scores. They also tended to have more problematic institutional adjustments, likely because of their higher levels of psychopathy. The Defense-Q was significantly related to general offence history for Aboriginal inmates and the ADS was significantly related to violence history for non-Aboriginal inmates, but other significant relations were sparse. The results of the current series of studies provides preliminary support for the idea that individual defenses have their own ranges of adaptiveness, as the ADS scores male undergraduates and male inmates were significantly different for the same defenses. Given the pattern of the relations of the ADS to the dependent variables, it appears that the ADS is sensitive to interpersonal functioning.

The present study was conducted in order to determine if the amount of justification for a crime and the physical attractiveness of a defendant would influence the severity of sentence imposed on the defendant by subjects who were asked to act as jurors. Subjects were 240 male and female undergraduate students who volunteered from introductory psychology classes. Forty subjects were assigned to each of six treatment conditions produced by three levels of attractiveness: attractive, unattractive, and no-picture; and by the two levels of justification: high and low. Subjects read a short vignette of a crime and were asked to determine a length of sentence. Additional, related ratings were also made. Those defendants in the high justification condition were handed less severe sentences than those in the low justification condition. However, the results did not support the second hypothesis which stated that the attractive defendant would be sentenced to fewer years imprisonment than would the unattractive defendant. The final hypothesis predicted that there would be an interaction between the attractiveness and justification variables, i.e., that the attractive defendant would be punished less severely than the unattractive defendant when justification for committing the crime was low, and for the high justification condition, the effect of the attractiveness would be attenuated. Results did not support this hypothesis. However, related findings provided by the additional scales yielded data which could be interpreted as indirect support for the main hypotheses.

Despite the overwhelming amount of research conducted on forensic risk assessments in the last twenty years there has been a distinct lack of information on the use of the professional override to adjust actuarial scores. The current study was designed to fill the gap in the research literature examining the effects from using the professional override in the Level of Service Inventory – Ontario Revision (LSI-OR). While there has been recent research conducted indicating that overrides or adjusted actuarial risk assessments are not as accurate as purely actuarial methods (Gore, 2007; Hanson et al., 2007; Hogg, 2011; Wormith, Hogg, & Guzzo, 2012) there is a lack of research conducted solely on the use of professional overrides in forensic risk assessment. This study analysed data from 40,539 provincial offenders in Ontario, Canada. The sample was primarily male (83.9%), White (63.0%), and was comprised of violent (53.0%), sexual (3.3%), and non-violent offenders (43.7%). Predictive validity analyses were conducted to determine the effects of the override for the total sample and then stratified by gender and ethnicity. Special attention was paid to the effects of the override compared between violent, sexual, and non-violent offenders. Results showed that the General Risk/Need score was most strongly correlated with non-violent recidivism over violent and sexual recidivism and that the General Risk/Need was significantly more correlated with non-violent recidivism for female offenders compared to male offenders. Correlation analyses showed that the initial risk levels appeared to be better predictors of general, violent, and non-violent recidivism whereas the final risk levels appeared to be better predictors of sexual recidivism in some cases. For violent and sexual offenders, the initial risk levels were significantly stronger predictors of general, violent, and non-violent recidivism than the final risk levels yet the final risk levels were non-significantly stronger predictors of sexual recidivism. There were no significant differences between the initial and final risk levels’ prediction estimates of the recidivism outcomes for non-violent offenders. Further, there were many more overrides used to increase risk levels than to decrease risk levels overall; sexual offenders had more overrides used to increase risk levels than violent and non-violent offenders combined. Risk level matrices indicated that there were many discrepancies between the number of offenders overridden and their corresponding recidivism rates. Regression analyses indicated additional discrepancies between the significant predictors of recidivism and the significant predictors of the override. Though there were certain methodological limitations to the current study the results still provide important information on the use of the override in a sample of male and female Ontario offenders. The results showed that the override resulted in decreased predictive validity of multiple recidivism outcomes. The conflicting information between the prediction of sexual recidivism and general, violent, or non-violent recidivism prevents a clear message being drawn from this study, yet the equivocal results provide further doubt and criticism of the use of adjusted actuarial practices in forensic risk assessment. Training assessors for how to use the override and examinations of the effects of the override for various offender groups must be improved and more frequently monitored. Further research should also focus on the reasons why overrides are used and if there are any biases concerning certain offender types. Misuse of the override has far-reaching ethical and legal implications that must be limited to ensure the future of forensic risk assessment is as accurate and appropriate as possible.