Showing papers by "John Monahan published in 1997"

The MacArthur Adjudicative Competence Study: Development and Validation of a Research Instrument

Abstract: Assessment of competence to stand trial is a common evaluation that can have substantial consequences for defendants and the criminal justice system. Despite a voluminous literature, much remains unknown. An obstacle to progress in understanding what is better termed “adjudicative competence” is the absence of structured, standardized research measures for assessment of defendants. This article presents the legal framework, assessment strategy, instrument description, psychometric properties, and construct validation of the MacArthur Structured Assessment of the Competencies of Criminal Defendants (MacSAC-CD). The measures meet or exceed accepted indices of internal consistency, and interscorer agreement. Observed patterns of correlations among measures support the underlying theoretical structure of competence-related abilities. Moreover, the MacSAC-CD distinguishes groups of competent and incompetent defendants; reflects changes in competence status; and correlates positively with clinical judgments, negatively with psychopathology and impaired cognitive functioning, and negligibly with cynicism toward the justice system

Law school performance predicted by explanatory style.

Abstract: The explanatory styles of 387 law students were assessed prior to law school using the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ). Longitudinal performance measures were collected throughout law school and related to each student's initial explanatory style. In contrast to studies with undergraduates, students who made stable, global, and internal attributions for negative events combined with the converse attributions for success (typically called pessimists) outperformed more optimistic students on measures of grade point averages and law journal success. We discuss the limitations of current attributional research methodologies and suggest the prudent and cautious perspective necessary for law or skill-based professions may account for our findings.

The MacArthur Adjudicative Competence Study: diagnosis, psychopathology, and competence-related abilities.

Abstract: A set of measures assessing abilities related to legal standards for competence in the adjudicative process were administered to mentally-disordered criminal defendants with diagnoses of schizophrenia, affective disorder, other psychiatric disorders, and to criminal defendants without diagnosed mental disorder. Mentally-disordered defendants were recruited from two groups: those who had been committed for restoration of competence and those who had been identified by jail personnel as mentally ill. Significant impairments in competence-related abilities were found for approximately half of the defendants with schizophrenia. Defendants with schizophrenia scored lower on measures of understanding, reasoning, and appreciation related to the adjudication process. The association between symptoms and competence-related abilities was explored within diagnostic groups. Conceptual disorganization was found to be inversely correlated with performance on all measures in both defendants with schizophrenia and those with affective disorders. For other psychotic symptoms, differing patterns of correlations were found in the two major diagnostic groups. The implications for policy designed to safeguard the rights of defendants to be tried while competent are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mental Disorder, Work Disability, and the Law

Abstract: List of Contributors Work Disability and the Fabric of Mental Health Law: An Introduction by Richard J. Bonnie 1: Serious and Severe Mental Illness and Work: What Do We Know? Laura J. Milazzo-Sayre, Marilyn J. Henderson, Ronald W. Manderscheid. 2: Employment Patterns among Persons with and without Mental Conditions Edward H. Yelin, Miriam G. Cisternas. 3: "No Other Way to Go": Pathways to Disability Income Application among Persons with Severe Persistent Mental Illness Sue E. Estroff, Catherine Zimmer, William S. Lachicotte, Julia Benoit, Donald L. Patrick. 4: Mental Disorders, Work, and Choice John S. Strauss, Larry Davidson. 5: Economic Opportunities and Disincentives for People with Mental Illness Richard Warner, Paul Polak. 6: Mental Disabilities and the Disability Fabric Ellen Smith Pryor 7: The Americans with Disabilities Act, Mental Disability, and Work Christopher G. Bell 8: Equality and Difference in the ADA: Unintended Consequences for Employment of People with Mental Health Disabilities Jean Campbell, Caroline L. Kaufmann. 9: Making the ADA Work for People with Psychiatric Disabilities Laura Lee Hall 10: Mental Disabilities, Equal Opportunity, and the ADA Norman Daniels Epilogue Richard J. Bonnie, John Monahan. Index

The validity of mental patients' accounts of coercion-related behaviors in the hospital admission process

Abstract: Although the recent development of a measure for perceived coercion has led to great progress in research on coercion in psychiatric settings, there still exists no consensus on how to measure the existence of real coercive events or pressures. This article reports the development of a system for integrating chart review data and data from interviews with multiple participants in the decision for an individual to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The method generates a “most plausible factual account” (MPFA). We then compare this account with that of patients, admitting clinicians and other collateral informants in 171 cases. Patient accounts most closely approximate the MPFA on all but one of nine dimensions related to coercion. This may be due to wider knowledge of the events surrounding the admission.

Actuarial support for the clinical assessment of violence risk

Abstract: (1997). Actuarial support for the clinical assessment of violence risk. International Review of Psychiatry: Vol. 9, No. 2-3, pp. 167-170.

The MacArthur Adjudicative Competence Study: a comparison of criteria for assessing the competence of criminal defendants

Abstract: A set of measures assessing competence-related abilities was administered to three groups of criminal defendants: a group committed for restoration of competence, a group identified by jail personnel as mentally ill but not incompetent, and a group without identified mental disorder. Data from this study were used to test key assumptions bearing on the legal criteria for adjudicative competence. The data show that among defendants able to understand the nature and purpose of the criminal proceedings, a significant proportion have an impaired ability to appreciate their situations as criminal defendants or to communicate relevant information to counsel; among defendants able to understand the proceedings and to assist counsel, a significant proportion have impaired decision-making abilities; and among defendants able to understand the nature and consequences of decisions to plead guilty or waive a jury, a significant proportion have impaired abilities to appreciate the significance of these decisions or to rationally manipulate information pertinent to making them. These findings highlight the importance of disaggregating the components of adjudicative competence.

The MacArthur Adjudicative Competence Study: Development and Validation of a Research

Abstract: Assessment of competence to stand trial is a common evaluation that can have substantial consequences for defendants and the criminal justice system. Despite a voluminous literature, much remains unknown. An obstacle to progress in understanding what is better termed "adjudicative competence" is the absence of structured, standardized research measures for assessment of defendants. This article presents the legal framework, assessment strategy, instrument description, psychometric properties, and construct validation of the MacArthur Structured Assessment of the Competencies of Criminal Defendants (MacSAC-CD). The measures meet or exceed accepted indices of internal consistency, and interscorer agreement. Observed patterns of correlations among measures support the underlying theoretical structure of competence-related abilities. Moreover, the MacSAC-CD distinguishes groups of competent and incompetent defendants; reflects changes in competence status; and correlates positively with clinical judgments, negatively with psychopathology and impaired cognitive functioning, and negligibly with cynicism toward the justice system In 8%-15% of felony cases, defense attorneys have doubts about their clients* competence to assist counsel and to participate in the process of adjudication (Hoge, Bonnie, Poythress, & Monahan, 1992; Poythress, Bonnie, Hoge, Monahan, & Oberlander, 1994). It is not surprising, therefore, that the assessment of competence to stand trial is one of the most frequently requested types of forensic evaluation in the United States, accounting for an estimated 25,000 examinations per year (Steadman & Hartstone, 1983).6