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Description: Over the years the criminal justice system throughout the United States has relied on psychiatrists and psychologists to make predictions regarding future violence. In earlier years this question was framed as "predicting dangerousness" and the answer was often a simple "yes" or "no." With little or no scientific basis for these "crystal ball readings," predictions were frequently wrong. Follow-up studies on patients released who were considered dangerous sometimes indicated false positive rates higher than 80%. The field research conducted in the area was so poorly controlled that it is impossible to determine any exact percentages. It seems clear, however, that the potential for violence was overestimated in many cases.
Suggested Citation:
Conroy, M. A. (2006). Risk Assessments in the Texas Criminal Justice System [Electronic Version]. Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice,
2(3), 147-176.
Keywords:
Date: Sep 29, 2006 | File Size: 132.54 Kb | Downloads: 2319