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Competency to Stand Trial Among Female Inpatients

Competency to Stand Trial Among Female Inpatients Competency to stand trial evaluations are conducted by forensic mental health professionals to opine whether defendants possess the mental abilities to understand, appreciate, and reason in regard to their court proceedings. The majority of research on competency to stand trial evaluations has focused on males, with research on female defendants being relatively underexplored. Even less is known of diverse female samples referred for competency evaluation. In the current study, we sought to examine whether characteristics associated with competency among predominantly male samples translate to a racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse group of female defendants (N = 288, 85% non-White). Chi-square analyses revealed significant relationships between findings of incompetence and defendants’ diagnosis of a psychotic disorder, active psychotic symptoms, medication noncompliance, nonparticipation in the evaluation, and nonfelony charges. Logistic regression analysis indicated that defendants who experienced active psychotic symptoms, did not participate in their evaluations, and were not compliant with their medication were most likely to be found incompetent. Notably, neither minority status nor age was a significant characteristic in predicting incompetence. These findings in particular differ from much of the literature and highlight the need to examine competency within a cross-cultural framework, as characteristics associated with competency opinions do not necessarily translate across demographic groups. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Law and Human Behavior American Psychological Association

Competency to Stand Trial Among Female Inpatients

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References (26)

Publisher
American Psychological Association
Copyright
© 2012 American Psychological Association
ISSN
0147-7307
eISSN
1573-661X
DOI
10.1037/lhb0000014
pmid
23148467
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Competency to stand trial evaluations are conducted by forensic mental health professionals to opine whether defendants possess the mental abilities to understand, appreciate, and reason in regard to their court proceedings. The majority of research on competency to stand trial evaluations has focused on males, with research on female defendants being relatively underexplored. Even less is known of diverse female samples referred for competency evaluation. In the current study, we sought to examine whether characteristics associated with competency among predominantly male samples translate to a racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse group of female defendants (N = 288, 85% non-White). Chi-square analyses revealed significant relationships between findings of incompetence and defendants’ diagnosis of a psychotic disorder, active psychotic symptoms, medication noncompliance, nonparticipation in the evaluation, and nonfelony charges. Logistic regression analysis indicated that defendants who experienced active psychotic symptoms, did not participate in their evaluations, and were not compliant with their medication were most likely to be found incompetent. Notably, neither minority status nor age was a significant characteristic in predicting incompetence. These findings in particular differ from much of the literature and highlight the need to examine competency within a cross-cultural framework, as characteristics associated with competency opinions do not necessarily translate across demographic groups.

Journal

Law and Human Behavior – American Psychological Association

Published: Aug 12, 2013

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