Title
Commentary on Seagrave and Grisso: impressions of the state of the art
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Psychiatry
Publication Date
5-3-2002
Document Type
Article
Subjects
Adolescent; Age Factors; Antisocial Personality Disorder; Child; Forensic Psychiatry; Humans; Juvenile Delinquency; Personality Assessment; Reproducibility of Results
Disciplines
Health Services Research | Mental and Social Health | Psychiatric and Mental Health | Psychiatry | Psychiatry and Psychology
Abstract
Seagrave and Grisso (2001) questioned the clinical-forensic utility of tests designed to assess juvenile psychopathy. They discussed potential problems with such tests and some avenues for future research. We agree with the points made by Seagrave and Grisso, but believe their critique did not go far enough. The "state of the art" with respect to the assessment of juvenile psychopathy is like an Impressionist painting: fine from a distance; but the closer you get, the messier it looks. We conclude that although tests of "juvenile psychopathy" measure something, it is impossible to be sure at this time they are actually measuring psychopathy.
Rights and Permissions
Citation: Law Hum Behav. 2002 Apr;26(2):241-5.
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Law and human behavior
Related Resources
PubMed ID
11985300
Repository Citation
Hart, Stephen D.; Watt, Kelly A.; and Vincent, Gina M., "Commentary on Seagrave and Grisso: impressions of the state of the art" (2002). Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center Publications and Presentations. 350.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/psych_cmhsr/350
