Citation

Burling TA, Saylor CF. Behav. Sci. Law 1984; 2(2): 219-226.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1984, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/bsl.2370020210

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

An instrument was designed to assist mental health professionals in objectively assessing competence to stand trial. Items were empirically derived based on input from multidisciplinary teams of mental health professionals experienced in working with forensic patients in a state hospital. Procedures were adapted from Goldfried and D'Zurella's five-stage behavioral-analytic model for the assessment of social competence. The resulting 15-item audiotaped scale assessed both legal and social competence based on reported responding in jail, in interactions with lawyers, and in the courtroom. Interrater reliability on scoring of responses ranged from.68-.96. High correlations between social and legal competence (.56-.82) demonstrated the likelihood of overlap of these constructs and the importance of directly addressing both. A pilot intervention program was designed from the instrument and implemented with three forensic patients. Failure to demonstrate change in these subjects is briefly discussed, and recommendations for future efforts in this area are made.

Language: en