NCJ Number
85175
Date Published
1980
Length
38 pages
Annotation
Samples of forensic psychiaric patients in Bridgewater, Mass., and Chicago and Chester, Ill., were used to test the dangerousness-prediction model developed in the Texas study of maximum security mental patients and to examine how maximum security patients in other States compare with Texas.
Abstract
Results of the Bridgewater, Chicago, and Chester studies show a marked similarity between maximum security patients in Texas, Massachusetts, and Illinois. In effect, the Holtzman Inkblot Technique -- a psychological instrument with a high degree of interscorer reliability and an instrument with a number of large standardization samples -- has now been standardized on a sample of some 500 maximum security mental patients. A data base has also been established for future psychological comparisons. The purpose of the Texas project has been to develop an actuarial model which can predict or refine subjective judgments of dangerousness. The results of the Texas study of maximum security mental patients warranted replication for several reasons. Certain variables on the Holtzman Inkblot Technique, the Buss Durkee Inventory, and a few demographic variables predicted clinicians' judgments of dangerousness with 80 percent accuracy. The study of the Texas sample obtained at Rusk State Hospital was also replicated at the Brownwood Reception Center of the Texas Youth Council (TYC). The comparison of the TYC and the Rusk study again support the reliability of the Holtzman Inkblot Technique in predicting dangerousness among juveniles. An excellent data base was provided for studying the psychological characteristics of potentially violent juvenile offenders. Tabular data and two references are provided.