Bender Gestalt Screening for Brain Dysfunction in a Forensic Population

Abstract

The diagnostic utility of the Lacks adaptation of the Hutt-Briskin (LHB) Bender Gestalt scoring system was examined in 112 male patients incarcerated at a regional state forensic facility. Subjects were independently classified as schizophrenic, organic, or normal, and Bender Gestalt protocols were scored and classified as nonorganic or organic according to LHB rules. Except for those with subnormal intelligence, normal subjects were classified with the greatest accuracy. Schizophrenics were misclassified as organic more frequently than normals. The poorest classification accuracy was observed among the organics, who were classified as normals nearly half of the time. These results suggest that LHB scoring of Bender Gestalt protocols offers a rather poor basis for screening for organic dysfunction among forensic patients.