Development and Preliminary Validation of a Defendant and Offender Screening Tool for Psychopathology in Inmate Populations

• Author: Charles Negy,Christopher J. Ferguson
• Published date: 01 June 2006
• DOI: 10.1177/0093854806286194
• Date: 01 June 2006
• Subject Matter: Articles

DEVELOPMENT AND

PRELIMINARY VALIDATION

OF A DEFENDANT AND

OFFENDER SCREENING TOOL

FOR PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

IN INMATE POPULATIONS

CHRISTOPHER J. FERGUSON

Texas A&M International University

CHARLES NEGY

University of Central Florida

The development of instruments to assess psychopathology within inmate populations has lagged

far behind the development of general clinical assessment measures. At present, few empirically

validated assessment instruments are available, and forensic evaluations typically rely on clinical

measures that were not designed for inmate populations. The present study details the develop-

ment and initial validation of a new forensically relevant assessment tool designed for and tested

on an inmate population. This instrument is designed to function as a screening assessment tool

for use in forensic and correctional evaluations that may assist forensic evaluators in answering

questions related to psychopathology more reliably and validly than tools currently in use.

Psychometric properties and potential usefulness of the instrument are discussed.

Keywords: psychopathology; inmates; forensic evaluation; assessment; Defendant and

Offender Screening Tool (DOST)

Instruments designed to assess psychopathology within forensic

and correctional populations are surprisingly limited given the large

number of individuals arrested and incarcerated within the United

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CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, Vol. 33, No. 3, June 2006 325-346

DOI:10.1177/0093854806286194

© 2006 American Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

AUTHORS’NOTE: Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to

Christopher J. Ferguson, Department of Behavioral, Applied Sciences and Criminal

Justice, Texas A&M International University, 5201 University Blvd, Laredo, TX

78041; phone: (956) 326-2636; e-mail: CJFerguson1111@aol.com.

CJB286194.qxd 4/8/2006 12:13 PM Page 325

States. Although the testimony of psychologists has been admissible

since 1962 (Jenkins v. United States, 1962), Otto and Heilbrun (2002)

suggest that forensic psychologists lack clear standards for evaluation

and that psychometrically validated measures specifically developed

for inmate populations remain largely unavailable. Although some

progress had been made regarding the development of forensic psy-

chology (that is, the subspecialty of clinical psychology concerned

with assessment issues that pertain to legal and/or correctional set-

tings), forensic evaluation as a clinical science has remained in its

infancy. Despite the fact that the number of evaluation tools specifi-

cally designed for use in forensic assessments has increased, concerns

regarding the psychometric properties of many of these tools remain.

As a result, the utility of many of these measures as well as their abil-

ity to meet judicial standards, such as those set forth by Daubert v.

Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (1993) or Frye v. United States

(1923), are limited.

The National Institute of Corrections has recently instituted reforms

for assessment instruments used to classify inmates (see Brennan,

1987, for a full discussion) in an attempt to promote the development

of empirically derived assessment instruments for inmates. Several

measures stand out as forensic instruments that have demonstrated

adequate psychometric properties, including, most notably, the

Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 1991). However, the

PCL-R itself requires extensive training to administer, making its

use prohibitive to many correctional and forensic institutions. Fur-

thermore, the Historical/Clinical/Risk Management (Webster, Douglas,

Eaves, & Hart, 1997) and Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (Webster,

Harris, Rice, Cormier, & Quinsey, 1994) have been developed as

actuarial risk for violence measures, although some controversy over

their ability to predict violence persists (see, for example, Steadman

et al., 2000, for a full discussion). Regarding competency evalua-

tions, the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool (Otto et al.,

1998) shows promise in providing information relevant to such deci-

sions. The Carlson Psychological Survey (Carlson, 1981) has been

developed as a self-report screening tool for psychopathology and

substance abuse in criminal populations. This measure has demon-

strated adequate reliability with both adult (Carlson, 1981) and ado-

lescent (Wright & Friesen, 1985) populations. Similarly, the Referral

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