Personality Assessment Inventory Scores as Predictors of Evaluation Referrals, Evaluator Opinions, and Commitment Decisions in Sexually Violent Predator Cases

Personality assessment inventory (PAI) in forensic and correctional settings: A comprehensive review

As Forensic Psychology continues to expand as an independent field, professionals regularly resort to psychological assessment tools to assess people involved within the justice system. The Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) is a 344-item, self-report inventory that aims to provide meaningful information for diagnosis and clinical decision-making, specifically relating to psychopathology, personality, and psychosocial environment. Its applicability in forensic settings has been increasingly recognized on account of its benefits in comparison to other self-report inventories (e.g., MMPI-2, MCMI-III), since it includes scales that are relevant to forensic settings (e.g., violence risk levels, psychopathy, substance abuse), and the existence of profile distortion indicators is useful when dealing with highly defensive and/or malingering populations. The goal of this paper is to conduct a thorough review of the PAI's utility in forensic settings, by focusing on the relevant forensic constructs assessed by the PAI (e.g., personality disorders, psychosis, substance abuse, aggression, recidivism risk, and response distortion), as well as its application to offender and inmate populations, intimate partner violence contexts, family law cases, and forensic professionals. Overall, the PAI continues to gather international recognition and its relevance and usefulness in forensic settings is generally accepted and acknowledged.

Child pornography possession/receipt offenders: developing a forensic profile

Child pornography possession/receipt offenders are a controversial offender group due to mixed and occasionally divergent evidence about their risk profile, offending history and psychopathology. Using a population of male offenders who ever perpetrated a sexual offense from a federal jurisdiction in the central United States, the current study developed an exploratory post hoc empirical profile of these offenders. The profile has some success in the validation component of our study and showed significant associations with self-reported sexual abuse of child victims ages 3-12 years, but non-significant associations to adolescent and adult victims. It significantly linked to the conceptually expected victim group and the significant statistical effect withstood controls for generally robust indicators of antisocial conduct including antisocial personality disorder, arrest onset, total adverse childhood experiences, age and race. We view the findings as exploratory and encourage additional empirical study of this important offender group.

Neuroanatomical Differences Among Sexual Offenders: A Targeted Review with Limitations and Implications for Future Directions

As sexual assault and child sexual abuse continue to be worldwide public health concerns, research has continued to explore factors associated with sexual offending. Structural and functional neuroanatomical brain differences have been examined in an effort to differentiate sexual offenders and their behavior. This targeted review searched PubMed and Google Scholar for empirical studies using brain imaging techniques to examine possible structural or functional differences among control groups compared with at least one group of sexual offenders with contact offenses. This targeted review summarizes the structural and functional findings of 15 brain imaging studies (i.e., computed tomography, diffusion tensor imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and functional magnetic resonance imaging), which suggest possible differences in brain size and gray matter volume, cortical thickness, white matter connectivity, and specific structural and functional differences among brain regions (fronto-temporal region, amygdala, prefrontal cortex, etc.). The methodological limitations of brain imaging studies and the associated findings with regard to sexual offenders are highlighted, as research indicates that many of the proposed differences in brain structure and function are not unique to this population. We further highlight several limitations to using neuroimaging studies to examine this population of interest, including publication bias, small sample size, underpowered studies, and all-male samples. As these results are mixed and findings are not seemingly unique to sexual offenders, we suggest future sexual offender research may benefit from focusing on more financially feasible options, such as neuropsychological assessment approaches, to assess for and attend to offenders' criminogenic and rehabilitative/therapeutic needs in alignment with the risk-need-responsivity model.