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Malingering in the correctional system: does incentive affect prevalence?

Barbara E McDermott¹, Isah V Dualan, Charles L Scott

¹Division of Psychiatry and the Law, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Davis, 2230 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95817, United States. bemcdermott@ucdavis.edu

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry

|May 14, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Malingering rates in criminal court defendants vary by context. Patients found incompetent to stand trial showed 17.5% malingering, while jail inmates seeking psychiatric services had a significantly higher rate of 64.5%.

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Area of Science:

Forensic Psychology
Psychiatry
Legal Medicine

Background:

Malingering, the intentional feigning of symptoms for external gain, varies in prevalence based on context.
In medico-legal settings, malingering often aims to establish incompetence to stand trial or support an insanity defense, with prevalence estimates ranging from 8-21%.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the incentives and prevalence of malingering in two distinct forensic psychiatric populations: patients found incompetent to stand trial (IST) and jail inmates seeking psychiatric services (JPS).

Main Methods:

Data from two samples were analyzed: patients undergoing restoration for incompetence to stand trial and jail inmates receiving psychiatric services.
Prevalence rates of malingering were calculated for each sample.
The association between malingering and offense severity was examined in both groups.

Main Results:

The rate of malingering in the incompetent to stand trial (IST) sample was 17.5%, aligning with previous research.
The jail inmates seeking psychiatric services (JPS) sample exhibited a substantially higher malingering rate of 64.5%.
In the IST sample, malingering rates were more than double for individuals charged with murder and robbery, unlike the JPS sample where offense severity was not related to malingering.

Conclusions:

Malingering prevalence differs significantly between distinct forensic populations, being higher in jail inmates seeking services compared to those found incompetent to stand trial.
Offense severity is a relevant factor for malingering in individuals deemed incompetent to stand trial but not in jail inmates seeking psychiatric services.