Psychological Testing in Institutional Rehabilitation Centers

Abstract

Psychological testing has increased in correctional rehabilita tion programs, with a growing demand for information placed on the correctional psychologist. While testing has made signifi cant contributions, it has not yielded its maximum potential because of the failure to (a) restandardize standard psychological tests borrowed from other settings so that they might be more appropriate for the circumstances of the correctional population, or (b) devise new psychological instruments directly geared to solving correctional problems. Tests—particularly in the measure ment of intelligence and personality—are often standardized in schools or hospitals and may therefore be unsuitable to inmates of correctional institutions. An example of the recommended restandardization procedure is the Lindner Gurvitz Revised Beta Examination; an example of devising new instruments is a de scription of a scale for predicting accessibility to group therapy among adolescent inmates. This scale predicted accessibility, as judged by the boys' therapists, with greater accuracy than three other prediction methods based on conventional psychological- psychiatric practice. Psychologists coming into correction ought to scrutinize "with a critical and objective eye the instruments they bring with them." Doing this should enable them "to supply information having the maximum scientific validity," to "exper ience the satisfaction of creative activity," and, because of the potential economy of time, should free them for treatment and basic clinical research.