Psychological services to extend public health and disease management approaches in criminal justice settings: An introduction.

COVID-19 has brought renewed attention to the physical and mental health needs of underserved populations and the settings that assist them in receiving services. This introduction presents six articles of a special section on disease management approaches used within criminal justice settings to address such needs. Articles span a range of settings, including prisons, jails, mental health courts, forensic settings, and crisis units. Collectively, the articles in this special section discuss medical conditions, substance use, and mental health. They provide information on the diverse approaches taken across various settings in managing the physical and mental health challenges of those involved in the criminal justice system. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

"The highest values are individual": The life and times of Eleanor Harris Rowland Wembridge.

Eleanor Harris Rowland Wembridge, one of the first women psychologists in the country, advocated tirelessly for the delivery of psychological services to enhance the lives of marginalized girls and women. Eleanor launched forward professionally with her doctorate at the young age of 22 and began work 5 years later at the Bedford reformatory that would ultimately lead to the first published correctional psychology research study. This precedent sets the historical marker at the interface of offender assessment, programs, and reentry. A harbinger of the scientist-practitioner model in clinical psychology, Eleanor retained a scholarly approach to her public service psychology work in various academic, correctional, forensic, and military settings across the country. In those public service settings, she heard and reflected the voices of the underserved through her distinctive advocacy, service, and justice writing. Eleanor left behind a largely invisible, but important legacy inside the walls of the correctional institution as an advocate for programs for justice-involved women, and outside the walls of corrections as a model for women psychologists. She is a remarkable figure in the history of public service psychology, and this article eliminates the problem of her absence from the general history of psychology literature. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Perspectives on opioid misuse from public service psychology: An introduction.

Despite practicing in multiple venues where people with opioid use disorders require services, most public service psychology providers are not delivering, or being trained to deliver, treatment for substance use disorders. In addition, unintentional overdose and death from opioids continue, treatment options for chronic pain remain limited, and a larger discussion on the problem and role of drug and alcohol addiction in society remains largely unspoken. The articles received and included in this special section present some changes in the way that precipitants and prevention of opioid use disorder may be addressed and the role of psychologists in this work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Strategies and solutions to address the mental health needs of protective service workers: An introduction.

By virtue of their occupational responsibilities, protective service workers are often exposed to stressors and hazards that may increase their risk for various mental health problems. Efforts are thus needed to enhance connection to psychological services across protective service worker groups and to tailor the delivery of these services based on the specific needs of these workers. To enhance the understanding of how to improve the provision of psychological services to protective service workers, the journal issued a call for papers. The 5 articles summarized in this introduction were accepted in response to this call and constitute this special section of articles. These articles represent a wide variety of public safety roles, including police officers, military service members, workers on secure forensic units, and human rights advocates. Despite this variety in specific roles and public service practice settings, findings from each study offer broad insights into bolstering mental health and improving the delivery of psychological services to all protective service workers. Together, these articles provide key perspectives on how to meet the mental health needs of protective service workers and illuminate unique considerations when providing care to this important group. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Expertise in the correctional setting: Comment on Neal (2018).

Comments on an article by T. M. S. Neal (see record 2018-05574-001). Drawing out the distinctions and differences between forensic and correctional psychology, Neal (2018) provides a compelling overview of these separate but related subfields, yet the specialized postdoctoral training model described for forensic psychology is not necessary for the development of correctional psychologists. This comment elucidates 3 reasons why generalist training in an applied psychology setting provides a better model. The absence of an accumulated and advanced scientific base of specialized practice, the delivery of services to psychologically healthy and pathological populations, and the need for supervised practice in an applied setting are each described and point to a developmental model in which generalist skills in an applied setting are all suitable as an alternate to the specialization training model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The prediction and prevention of suicide: Introduction to the special issue.

The delivery of psychological services including screening, assessing, and providing interventions to suicidal individuals occurs within all public and organized care settings where psychologists practice. These services are typically the most demanding and important clinical tasks these psychologists will perform. To inform aspects of such practice, the journal issued a call for papers and 16 of the articles received in response are part of this special issue and reviewed in this Introduction. These articles inform three broad psychological service perspectives: conceptual models and assessment, interventions, and special populations and cultures. From female firefighters and adolescent girls with chronic pain, to our veterans and military personnel and those incarcerated, the samples drawn, studied, and written about in this special issue represent an effort to address our current need for actionable knowledge in this area. The opening section presents four papers on models and assessments, the next considers individual and group interventions and perspectives on access to care, and the final section walks us through a myriad of special populations and cultures to understand facets of the prediction and prevention of suicide. (PsycINFO Database Record

Pilot testing the Daily Activities List for Inmates (DALI): Item evaluation and content validity.

Scheduling enjoyable daily activities is a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy intervention used in the treatment of depression and substance abuse disorders that are prevalent disorders among inmates. To effectively use this intervention with inmates, an activities list with items ecologically sensitive to the correctional setting needs to be created. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate items; thus, establishing a content valid Daily Activities List for Inmates (DALI). Fifteen corrections professionals representing a wide range of disciplines and managerial backgrounds served as subject matter experts (SMEs). Each SME evaluated 403 daily activity items that were aggregated from 4 separate lists. Each item was evaluated in relation to appropriateness for corrections, availability to inmates, need for editing, and where the activity could take place (in cell, out of cell, or both) then analyzed for removal following a criteria-driven, stage-based approach. The final daily activity list consisted of a total 227 items with the majority of the items developed by inmates in a correctional environment enduring through each stage. The majority of all 227 final DALI items were also considered to be used as both in and out of cell activities. An additional 22 items were created through SME suggestions or edits and were reserved for possible future use. With an ecologically sensitive daily activities list for inmates developed, implications for using the DALI to deliver psychological services to inmates are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Violence risk assessment and psychological treatment in correctional and forensic settings: Advances in research and practice.

This article is an introduction to the special section "Correctional and Criminal Justice Psychology." The eight articles in this issue advance the goals of delivering and assessing psychological services within the legal and correctional systems and achieving lasting change in individuals, groups, and systems. (PsycINFO Database Record

Eliciting Responsivity: Exploring Programming Interests of Federal Inmates as a Function of Security Classification.

Research supports the effectiveness of the Risk-Needs-Responsivity model for reducing criminal recidivism. Yet programming interests of inmates--one facet of responsivity--remain an understudied phenomenon. In the present study, we explored the programming interests of 753 federal inmates housed across three levels of security. Results suggest that inmates, as a group, prefer specific programs over others, and that some of their interests may differ by security level. We discuss possible implications of these findings.

Comorbid antisocial and substance misuse proclivity and mental health service utilization by female inmates: testing the worst of both worlds hypothesis with the PAI.

The primary purpose of this study was to establish whether female inmates with comorbid proclivity for antisocial behavior and substance misuse, as measured by the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 2007), use more mental health-related services than female inmates with either antisocial or substance misuse proclivity alone. A second purpose was to determine whether the effect of comorbid antisocial and substance misuse proclivity on mental health service utilization is cumulative or interactive. In a survey of 421 female federal prison inmates, it was noted that proclivity for both antisocial behavior and substance misuse was associated with significantly greater subsequent use of mental health services in female inmates than either proclivity alone, even after preexisting mental health diagnoses and treatment were controlled. In addition, the effect was additive rather than interactive. These findings provide further support for the "worst of both worlds" hypothesis, which holds that comorbid antisocial and substance involvement/proclivity portend poorer future outcomes than either antisocial or substance involvement/proclivity alone. The implications of these results for development of a comprehensive training model that provides mental health professionals with the skills to properly screen and effectively treat female inmates are discussed, along with the need to clarify the theory behind the "worst of both worlds" hypothesis.

Promoting cognitive complexity in corrections practice: Clinical supervision processes with psychotherapist trainees.

Practicing psychotherapy with inmates in correctional settings is challenging. Psychotherapists may be asked to address multiple treatment targets including severe mental illness and disruptive behaviors, alongside other recidivism-related factors such as substance abuse, criminal thinking errors, and deviant peer networks. In addition, the practice occurs with the secure confines of the correctional facility where an appreciation of culture, including cultures of staff from nonpsychology disciplines, is paramount. These are just a few of the factors highlighting the importance of sound clinical supervision. Unfortunately, clinical supervision processes in this realm have not been systematically explored. Using the therapist's cognitive complexity model elucidated by Owen and Lindley (2010), two clinical supervision processes are described. Each demonstrates an opportunity for psychotherapist trainees to build cognitive complexity into their correctional psychotherapy practices and repertoire. With supervisor-led framework development, better student engagement with corrections practice and higher quality psychological services for inmates may emerge.

Measuring suicidality using the personality assessment inventory: a convergent validity study with federal inmates.

Although numerous studies have examined the psychometric properties and clinical utility of the Personality Assessment Inventory in correctional contexts, only two studies to date have specifically focused on suicide ideation. This article examines the convergent validity of the Suicide Ideation Scale and the Suicide Potential Index on the Personality Assessment Inventory in a large, nontreatment sample of male and female federal inmates (N = 1,120). The data indicated robust validity support for both the Suicide Ideation Scale and Suicide Potential Index, which were each correlated with a broad group of validity indices representing multiple assessment modalities. Recommendations for future research to build upon these findings through replication and extension are made.

Exploring clinical and personality characteristics of adult male internet-only child pornography offenders.

Despite the dramatic increase in the number of convicted child pornography offenders, little is known about their potential clinical needs. The few studies that do explore this subgroup of sex offenders suggest clinical heterogeneity compared with other sex offender subgroups. However, research designs used in many studies have limited generalizability, have examined primarily treated or treatment samples, and have not included comparisons with nontreatment, community samples of men. The current study addresses such limitations by using nontreatment samples and multiple comparison groups to examine mean scales score differences on a commonly used clinical and personality assessment, the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI). The sample, drawn from an admissions cohort of federal offenders, those Internet-only Child Pornography Offenders (ICPOs; n = 35) and those with a history of child molesting exclusively (child molesters, n = 26). They were compared with each other and the male normative sample from the PAI. Results indicate that interpersonal deficits and depression featured most prominently in the profiles of the ICPOs. Consistent with prior research, they also obtained lower scores on aggression and dominance compared with the child molesters and the male normative sample. Implications for future research, training, and clinical practice with incarcerated ICPOs are offered.

Establishing the validity of the personality assessment inventory drug and alcohol scales in a corrections sample.

Although not originally designed for implementation in correctional settings, researchers and clinicians have begun to use the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) to assess offenders. A relatively small number of studies have made attempts to validate the alcohol and drug abuse scales of the PAI, and only a very few studies have validated those scales in nonclinical correctional samples. The current study examined evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the substance abuse scales on the PAI in a large, nonclinical sample of offenders. The net sample for the current study consisted of 1,120 federal inmates. Both the drug abuse and alcohol scales showed good convergent validity through high correlations with relevant proximal and distal indicators of substance use across multiple measures from several data sources. Discriminant validity was established as neither scale showed any "erroneous" correlations after controlling for the other scale. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

What is the latent structure of alcohol use disorders? A taxometric analysis of the Personality Assessment Inventory Alcohol Problems Scale in male and female prison inmates.

Three indicators derived from the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) Alcohol Problems scale (ALC)-tolerance/high consumption, loss of control, and negative social and psychological consequences-were subjected to taxometric analysis-mean above minus below a cut (MAMBAC), maximum covariance (MAXCOV), and latent mode factor analysis (L-Mode)-in 1,374 federal prison inmates (905 males, 469 females). Whereas the total sample yielded ambiguous results, the male subsample produced dimensional results, and the female subsample produced taxonic results. Interpreting these findings in light of previous taxometric research on alcohol abuse and dependence it is speculated that while alcohol use disorders may be taxonic in female offenders, they are probably both taxonic and dimensional in male offenders. Two models of male alcohol use disorder in males are considered, one in which the diagnostic features are categorical and the severity of symptomatology is dimensional, and one in which some diagnostic features (e.g., withdrawal) are taxonic and other features (e.g., social problems) are dimensional.

Taxometric analysis of the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy scale.

Levenson's Self-Report Psychopathy scale (Levenson, Kiehl, & Fitzpatrick, 1995) was administered to 1,972 male and female federal prison inmates, the results of which were subjected to taxometric analysis. We employed 4 taxometric procedures in this study: mean above minus below a cut (Meehl & Yonce, 1994), maximum slope (Grove & Meehl, 1993), maximum eigenvalue (Waller & Meehl, 1998), and latent-mode factor analysis (Waller & Meehl, 1998). The results showed consistent support for a dimensional interpretation of the latent structure of psychopathy, corroborating previous research conducted on the Psychopathy Checklist (e.g., Psychopathy Checklist-Revised; Hare, 2003) and Psychopathic Personality Inventory (Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996) and denoting that psychopathy is a dimensional construct (degree of psychopathic characteristics) rather than a qualitatively distinct category of behavior (psychopath).

Cross-validation of Levenson's Psychopathy Scale in a sample of federal female inmates.

Levenson, Kiehl, and Fitzpatrick's Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRPS) is evaluated to determine the factor structure and concurrent validity of the instrument among 430 federal female inmates. Confirmatory factor analysis fails to validate the expected 2-factor structure. Subsequent exploratory factor analysis reveals a 3-factor structure (egocentric, antisocial, and callous), where each factor accounts for significant variance in scores on several theoretically relevant measures. Higher scores on the antisocial factor of the LSRPS are associated with a history of varied psychopathological and negative legal outcomes, suggesting evidence of concurrent validity. However, the egocentric and callous factors do not seem to measure precisely the same construct as the primary psychopathy factor from the Levenson et al. study. The 3-factor structure proposed here has been proposed by other researchers and found in other samples of psychopathy in female inmates. Implications for both research and clinical practice using the LSRPS with female inmates are discussed.

Does the use of telemental health alter the treatment experience? Inmates' perceptions of telemental health versus face-to-face treatment modalities.

In corrections, where staffing limitations tax an overburdened mental health system, telemental health is an increasingly common mode of mental health service delivery. Although telemental health presents an efficient treatment modality for a spectrum of mental health services, it is imperative to study how this modality influences key elements of the treatment experience. In this study, the authors compared inmates' perceptions of the working alliance, postsession mood, and satisfaction with psychiatric and psychological mental health services delivered through 2 different modalities: telemental health and face-to-face. Participants consisted of 186 inmates who received mental health services (36 via telepsychology, 50 via face-to-face psychology, 50 via telepsychiatry, and 50 via face-to-face psychiatry). Results indicate no significant differences in inmates' perceptions of the work alliance with the mental health professional, postsession mood, or overall satisfaction with services when telemental health and face-to-face modalities were compared within each type of mental health service. Implications of these findings are presented.

Screening for traumatic brain injury in an offender sample: a first look at the reliability and validity of the Traumatic Brain Injury Questionnaire.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the reliability and validity of the Traumatic Brain Injury Questionnaire (TBIQ) for assessing history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in an offender population. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Offenders (118 women and 107 men) from 6 federal prison facilities in 3 geographic regions. MEASURES: TBIQ and multiple measures of cognitive and behavioral functioning. RESULTS: Preliminary results indicated good test-retest reliability for lifetime history of head injury, good internal consistency for symptom severity and frequency scales, and good criterion validity for frequency of head injury and frequency and severity of symptoms. CONCLUSION: The TBIQ holds promise as an instrument for the assessment of TBI history in offender populations.

Taxometric analysis of the antisocial features scale of the personality assessment inventory in federal prison inmates.

The Antisocial Features (ANT) scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) was subjected to taxometric analysis in a group of 2,135 federal prison inmates. Scores on the three ANT subscales-Antisocial Behaviors (ANT-A), Egocentricity (ANT-E), and Stimulus Seeking (ANT-S)-served as indicators in this study and were evaluated using the following taxometric procedures: mean above minus below a cut (MAMBAC), maximum eigenvalue (MAXEIG), and latent mode factor analysis (L-Mode). Objective and subjective evaluation of the results revealed consistent support for a dimensional interpretation of latent structure across the di ferent taxometric procedures as well as across gender, race, and security level. As a dimensional construct, antisocial personality disorder arranges respondents along one or more quantitative dimensions (degree of antisociality), rather than assigning them to qualitatively distinct categories (antisocial or not antisocial).