The present investigation sought to evaluate the degree of inter-rater reliability on a measure of competency to stand trial which has been adapted into state law. Twelve psychologists working in a state forensic setting were assigned to random dyads to conduct co-joint, yet independent, competency assessments using the Legal Process Participation Interview (LPPI). / Twenty paired-ratings were evaluated and the LPPI exhibited an agreement rate of 90% on final opinions regarding competency. Individual item agreement ranged from 55% to 90%. Factors were discussed which might lead to an improvement in the reliability figures. These factors included a formalization of training procedures, development of a manual to clarify each item area, and broadening the evaluators' theoretical and legal knowledge of the concept of competency to stand trial. / The second part of the investigation examined variables which may influence a judge's final legal determination of competency to stand trial after a patient has returned from the forensic hospital. Of 559 patients returned to the courts, 69 were found incompetent despite hospital recommendations. Demographic data were collected through the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services to assess the influence of patient characteristics on judicial decisions. Discriminant analyses indicated that the race of the patient, severity of charges, and interaction of race with charges all tended to influence the judges' decisions. It was also noted that the individual judge might exhibit some bias in handling cases involving a question of competency. Further research is needed to clarify these findings due to the presence of several unknown variables, such as psychiatric diagnosis and personal histories. / The patient data indicates the LPPI recommendations agreed with final judicial determinations in 87% of the cases. Thus the measure does exhibit relative strength in terms of it's inter-rater reliability and predictive validity. Additional research assessing the effectiveness of the LPPI over previous methods is planned to fully evaluate the benefit of the measure. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: B, page: 2537. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74561 |
| Contributors | LUCK, LINWOOD TIMBERLAKE, JR., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 87 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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