NCJ Number
139403
Journal
Behavioral Sciences and the Law Volume: 10 Issue: 3 Dated: (Summer 1992), 371-383
Date Published
1992
Length
13 pages
Annotation
A sample of 494 criminal defendants admitted to the Eastern State Hospital in Oklahoma on grounds of incompetency to stand trial was studied to determine the relationships between predictor variables identified at the time of admission and three outcome variables -- restoration to competency, change in severity of psychopathology during hospitalization, and length of hospital stay.
Abstract
The analyses were performed in three stages. First, the researchers described the background and admission status characteristics of the subjects. Then, the outcome of hospitalization was examined and the power of particular defendant characteristics to predict the outcome of hospitalization was evaluated. Finally, multiple regression analyses were used to determine which characteristics or combinations of characteristics made independent contributions to prediction of outcome. The findings showed that the vast majority of defendants were returned to competence, that the subjects showed significant psychopathological improvement during their hospitalizations, and that the length of hospital stay was relatively short among the sample. However, the results were less encouraging with regard to predicting outcome. Failure to restore competency seemed to be a low base rate phenomenon and thus, researchers would be unable to predict such treatment failure accurately. Multiple regression analyses suggested limited predictive ability among defendant characteristics; the defendant's level of functioning at admission appeared to be the strongest correlate of discharge symptomology. Length of hospitalization stay and length of time necessary to complete treatment and restore competency had little predictive ability. 2 tables and 21 references