Characterizing Contemporary Criminal Responsibility Evaluees Using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF)

Abstract

Few recent studies have examined the psychological characteristics of contemporary defendants evaluated for criminal responsibility. The current study sought to address this gap using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF). We provide descriptive findings for a recently collected criminal responsibility evaluation sample, contrast the MMPI-2-RF scores of this sample with those of a sample of criminal responsibility evaluees tested approximately two decades earlier, and compare MMPI-2-RF scores of those opined by examiners to meet vs. not meet not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) criteria. Results of the comparisons of the two cohorts of evaluees tested 10–20 years apart suggest some differences in their overall psychological functioning. Within the updated sample, those opined to meet NGRI criteria showed less over-reporting, antisocial behaviors, internalizing dysfunction, and somatic complaints, and greater under-reporting than individuals in the non-NGRI group. Results are partly consistent with the broader literature, as well as prior work on use of the MMPI-2-RF in this context.