FORUM on Corrections Research

Development and validation of a psychological referral screening tool (R-09, 1990)

This research describes an alternative to the current procedure of providing relatively undifferentiated psychological assessments for offenders reviewed for release. Presently, all Category 1 offenders and those with overt psychological or psychiatric problems are referred for psychological assessment before review by the National Parole Board. The alternative model screens referrals according to factors empirically related to recidivism. Inmates are separated into three categories, with the more serious cases receiving a more comprehensive assessment.

Preliminary analysis demonstrates that the derived referral screening form is reliable across time and observers, and correlates significantly with measures of criminality, psychopathy and recidivism (the latter provided by the Statistical Information on Recidivism score). These findings suggest that such a screening model might profitably be adopted, although normative data on a larger sample are required to determine appropriate cutoff scores for the three categories.