NCJ Number
81341
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 5 Issue: 4 Dated: (1981) Pages: 329-335
Date Published
1981
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study assesses the utility of the Competency Screening Test (CST) as a method of determining competency to stand trial.
Abstract
Subjects were 50 male residents of the Southwestern (Virginia) State Hospital Forensic Unit who were referred to the unit for observation and evaluation regarding competency to stand trial. Within 2 weeks after admission, the CST was administered to each subject, who save verbal responses to the test items read to him. The verbal format was chosen to reduce the time required for administration of the instrument and to control for differences in patients' reading abilities. Within 15 to 30 days after completion of the CST, patients were interviewed by the forensic team, including a psychiatrist, a psychologist, and a social worker, who assessed the patient's competency to stand trial. The team's decision regarding competency was made independently of the CST score and included data from the team interview, previous psychological and psychiatric evaluations, and the subject's social history. Of the 50 pretrial cases, 41 were consistently classified as competent or incompetent by both the CST and the team evaluation, which resulted in the CST successfully predicting the staff's recommendations in 82 percent of the cases. The present study supports earlier studies indicating the utility of the CST as a screening instrument of competency to stand trial, especially regarding its usefulness in screening those individuals clearly competent to stand trial. False positives provided the greatest source of errors (i.e., persons who scored below the cutoff on the CST, appearing incompetent, but judged competent by the staff team). The study's small percentage of individuals judged by the forensic team to be incompetent fails to demonstrate the CST's utility in making true positive decisions. Tables, footnotes, and five references are given.