Concurrent Cross-Validation of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire: A Tool for Assessing Violent and Nonviolent Recidivism and Institutional Adjustment on a Sample of North Carolina Offenders

• NCJ Number: 204038
• Journal: International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 48 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2004 Pages: 85-95
• Author(s): Wagdy Loza; Michael Conley; Birchie Warren
• Date Published: February 2004
• Length: 11 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article discusses the validation of a tool for assessing violent recidivism and institutional adjustment.

Abstract

The Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ) is a self- or group-administered instrument that comprises 72 true or false items. The first six of the eight subscales are used for predicting recidivism. The SAQ can also be used to assign offenders to different security levels, case planning, and to different treatment programs according to their needs. The goal of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the SAQ for the prediction of recidivism and institutional adjustment on 86 adult male North Carolina incarcerated offenders. The demographic makeup of the sample included considerably more African-American than Caucasian offenders. Based on previous studies of the SAQ it was hypothesized that the SAQ would be reliable and valid for use with a sample of North Carolina offenders. The concurrent validity of the SAQ was assessed by correlating total SAQ scores with the number of violent offenses, the number of total offenses, the number of past arrests, and the number of institutional infractions. The results indicate that the SAQ has sound psychometric properties with acceptable reliability and concurrent validity on the sample studied. The responses of the African-American offenders did not differ from the Caucasian offenders on the SAQ total score and all the subscales. This suggests that the SAQ may be free of racial bias and appears to be valid for use with African-American offenders. Future research should examine the validity of using the SAQ with different subtypes of North Carolina’s offenders, such as females and sex offenders. The results provide a base for using the SAQ in the assessment of violent and nonviolent recidivism and predicting institutional adjustment among North Carolina offenders. 2 tables, 29 references