TY - JOUR PY - 1984// TI - Empirically based assessment of competence to stand trial: Instrument development and preliminary findings JO - Behavioral sciences and the law A1 - Burling, Thomas A. A1 - Saylor, Conway Fleming SP - 219 EP - 226 VL - 2 IS - 2 N2 - 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
LA - en SN - 0735-3936 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2370020210 ID - ref1 ER -