Mental health professionals are testifying in court cases more than ever before, creating a need for standards that ensure psychological assessment tools are utilized properly, ethically, and to their fullest potential. Focusing on the Millon Clinical Inventories - used for determining the presence of personality disorders and other forms of psychopathology - this volume accessibly details how and when to use these tests optimally in both civil and criminal cases. Beginning with an overview of the Millon Inventories, chapters then integrate empirical research, forensic case studies, case law, and theoretical applications to detail the role of psychological testing in forensic assessment. Focusing on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) and the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI), these chapters cover psychometric issues in court, legal and ethical considerations, guidelines for preparing courtroom testimony, and the pros and cons of computerized reports in court. The authors describe specific applications of the tests for both criminal and civil cases, exploring how the tests can be applied in cases of personal injury, disability, child custody, and parental fitness cases; to evaluate sex offenders, juveniles, and perpetrators of domestic violence; and to determine competency to stand trial and criminal responsibility.
New Directions in Interpreting the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, edited by a leading MCMI researcher and featuring contributions from internationally renowned scholars in personality assessment, presents new methods of interpretation and new clinical applications for this classic objective measure of personality. This dynamic new handbook discusses issues related to the effect of culture on MCMI-III results and controversies regarding its forensic applications, and presents research related to the MCMI-III's diagnostic power with regard to diagnosis and malingering.
This book provides, in a single volume, an extensive, research-based evaluation of the most popular clinical assessment tools as applied in forensic settings. These widely used instruments often require important modifications in their administration and interpretation when used for forensic purposes, and it is vital that the clinician is intimately familiar with their correct application, as well as their limitations. The test instruments included are analyzed by senior figures in the field of psychological assessment who are uniquely qualified to discuss them because they have either had a crucial role in the development of the tests, or they have dedicated their careers to advancing our understanding of these clinical assessment measures. Each chapter begins with a summary of the development of the assessment instrument in its more traditional applications in clinical settings, and then considers its utilization in forensic settings. The types of forensic issues which have been addressed with that instrument are reviewed, and an illustrative case example is given which reflects the types of uses and limitations of the assessment technique when applied in a forensic context. New in this edition are a chapter on the MMPI-2-RF and separate chapters for the adult and youth versions of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. Psychologists using assessment instruments in applied forensic settings will find this to be a valuable and practical source of information, as will attorneys wishing to gain an understanding of the application of these psychological assessment approaches in the courtroom.
The purpose of this book is to provide a firm basis for psychologists to understand the appropriate uses and limitations of popular clinical assessment measures as they are applied to forensic issues. The instruments were selected because of their wide use and importance in both clinical and forensic settings. The PCL-R, the PAI, and MCMI-II, for example, are typically used with adults in criminal evaluations; the MMPI-A is often used in evaluating adolescents in detention and correctional facilities; while the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (Achenbach, 1991), Personality Inventory for Children--Second Edition (PIC-2) (Lachar & Gruber, 2001), and Parenting Stress Index (PSI) (Abidin, 1995) are more commonly used in evaluating families involved in child protection and custody cases. Instruments such as the MMPI-2, the Rorschach, and the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery are widely used across many types of forensic evaluations, although the latter category of testing is particularly related to personal injury evaluations. The end result is a unique and indispensable reference: a comprehensive overview, within a single text, of prominent clinical assessment instruments widely used for forensic purposes and designed to facilitate the optimal use of clinical assessment instruments among psychologists who have undertaken the training necessary to understand and apply psychological principles and test findings to salient legal standards or issues.
* Complete coverage of administration, scoring, interpretation, and reporting * Expert advice on avoiding common pitfalls * Conveniently formatted for rapid reference Quickly acquire the knowledge and skills you need to confidently administer, score, and interpret the Millon personality assessment tests Essentials of Millon(TM) Inventories Assessment, Second Edition provides state-of-the-art, practical guidelines for using the Millon personality tests. In one easy-to-use new edition, you can access comprehensive information on five tests: the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III(TM)); the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI(TM)); the Personality Adjective Check List (PACL); the Millon Index of Personality Styles (MIPS); and, new to this Second Edition, the Millon Behavioral Medicine Diagnostic (MBMD(TM)). Like all the volumes in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series, this book is designed to help busy mental health professionals quickly acquire the knowledge and skills they need to make optimal use of major psychological assessment instruments. Each concise chapter features numerous callout boxes highlighting key concepts, bulleted points, and extensive illustrative material, as well as test questions that help you gauge and reinforce your grasp of the information covered. Essentials of Millon(TM) Inventories Assessment, Second Edition provides comprehensive instruction in test administration, scoring, and interpretation. As well, this informative text provides expert assessment of the methods' relative strengths and weaknesses, valuable advice on their clinical applications, and illuminating case studies. Complete with a foreword by Theodore Millon, who developed most of the tests covered in this book, you'll learn how to most effectively employ these popular measures of personality.
Now in a substantially revised and expanded second edition, this important work thoroughly details the full range of clinical assessment tools developed by Theodore Millon and his associates. Presented is the most current, authoritative overview of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI), as well as comprehensive information on widely used instruments for such specific populations as adolescents, preadolescents, medical patients, and college students. With a heightened focus on clinical practice, the second edition offers explicit guidance for linking assessment to individualized, evidence-based treatment planning and intervention. Many of the chapters are entirely new, reflecting significant research advances and the development of new inventories.
The construct validity of a psychological test is assessed by a multitrait-multimethod nomothetic matrix, which means that the psychometric properties of an assessment instrument are studied with a variety of populations and in a variety of settings and weighed against a variety of other measures that purportedly assess the same construct. This concept implies that a test might have strong validity with some populations and weak validity with others, and this is the central theme of this book. In order to add to the construct validity of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI), evidence is presented on the psychometric properties of the test with both alcohol and drug abusers. Chapter 1, Epidemiology of Substance Abuse, reviews the scope of the abuse problem, sources of data on prevalence, and costs. Chapter 2, Overview of MCMI, discusses assessing personality disorders and theory and instrumentation. Chapters 3 and 4 explain in detail the two scales of the MCMI that assess alcohol and drug abuse, both directly and indirectly, along with the psychometric properties of these scales and the ways in which they have been used to detect substance abuse and assess substance abusers. Chapter 5 integrates the research findings presented in Chapters 3 and 4 and concludes with directions for future research. The final chapter presents an annotated bibliography of all studies conducted with substance abusers using the MCMI. Supportive illustrations and tables further enhance the presentation of the MCMI scales.
Quickly acquire the knowledge and skills you need to confidently administer, score, and interpret the Millon inventories The five key Millon personality inventories include the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III), the Millon Behavioral Health Inventory (MBHI), the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI), the Personality Adjective Check List (PACL), and the Millon Index of Personality Styles (MIPS). In order to use them properly,professionals need an authoritative source of advice and guidance on how to administer, score, and interpret these tests. Edited by clinical psychologist Stephen Strack and with a foreword by Theodore Millon, creator of the Millon inventories, Essentials of Millon Inventories Assessment is that source. Like all of the volumes in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series, this book is designed to help busy mental health practitioners quickly acquire the knowledge and skills they need to make optimal use of a major psychological assessment instrument. Each concise chapter features numerous callout boxes highlighting key concepts, bulleted points, and extensive illustrative material, as well as test questions that help you gauge and reinforce your grasp of the information covered. This step-by-step reference for the Millon inventories includes vital information about each of the five Millon tests, including information on psychometric characteristics, special populations, assets-limitations, reliability-validity, and interpretation. Strack provides expert assessment of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the tests, valuable advice on clinical applications, and several illuminating case reports. Other titles in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series: Essentials of WAIS-III Assessment Essentials of CAS Assessment Essentials of Forensic Psychological Assessment Essentials of NEPSY Assessment Essentials of Bayley Scales of Infant Development II Assessment Essentials of MMPI-2 Assessment
Assessing Adolescents with the MACI is an interpretive guide for using the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory—the most widely used personality assessment test for adolescents. The first book devoted exclusively to the MACI, this resource will prove a helpful guide for understanding the test, interpreting the results in clinical evaluation, and making appropriate recommendations for treatment and care management. Unlike other assessment tests developed for adults and adapted for adolescents, the MACI was created to address the unique concerns, pressures, and situations of adolescents. The MACI is also constructed using an underlying theory of personality and psychopathology. The MACI is a 160-item, 31-scale self report inventory that was designed to assess personality styles, significant problems or concerns, and clinical symptoms in adolescents. Using a true false format, the MACI surveys a wide range of personality characteristics and clinical symptoms that tend to be a focus in psychological evaluations of teenagers that either have or are suspected of having emotional or behavioral difficulties. While multi-scale personality inventories such as the MACI are useful for improving the clinician's understanding of an adolescent's personality and clinical symptoms, there are other reasons for using such instruments. The MACI can be used to formulate diagnostic hypotheses, confirm clinical diagnoses, formulate treatment plans, or assist in decision making surrounding case management and disposition planning. The MACI can be used as an outcome measure to evaluate changes in an adolescent's functioning as a result of treatment and intervention. Of course, the MACI can also be used in research studies to investigate a range of issues that pertain to adolescent psychopathology, personality, and treatment response. Drawing on a broad range of sources, including data in the MACI manual, published research studies, unpublished research, theoretical literature, and his own experience with the test, Joseph McCann lays the groundwork for the basis of the test and then offers an exhaustive exploration of all facets of the test. Recognizing both the strengths and weaknesses of the MACI, McCann offers a balanced and comprehensive resource on this vital assessment tool. "This book fills an important gap in the clinical literature . . . Joseph McCann, author of this first full text on the MACI, is the best known workshop presenter on the topic. Assessment with the MACI will enable the student and the clinician to develop a sophisticated basis for disentangling the many variations among youngsters, to assess both their assets and liabilities, to determine the presence of clinical disorders, and, most importantly, to provide a full picture that can serve as the basis for making decisions regarding each adolescent's welfare, that is, to be able to outline a logical course of treatment which may prove more optimally efficacious. It will guide the reader to transform the raw MACI test data, coordinate these data with the history of the youngster's experience, as well as with observational and interview information, facilitating interpretive syntheses and providing thereby a basis to help link assessment to psychotherapy. This text is insightful and comprehensive, a work of inestimable value to both practicing clinicians and students." —Theodore Millon, from the Foreword.
Most professional forensic literature addresses the assessment of adults yet neglects the necessary differences that arise when working with minors. Forensic Mental Health Assessment of Children presents the reader with essential knowledge and practical suggestions regarding the forensic assessment of minors involved in a variety of legal applications. Methods of evaluation are described by leading experts regarding topics frequently encountered and of great importance to the courts including: -Physical and sexual child abuse -Domestic violence -Child custody in divorce proceedings -Risk assesment for violence -Potential for rehabilitation in juvenile court cases -Special education -Childhood development and trauma as mitigating circumstances in death penalty cases In addition to reviewing a broad spectrum of topics, methods of evaluation, and the application of specific tests, chapters also address forensic assessment matters such as ethical issues, professional liability, and cultural considerations. This comprehensive resource will be indispensable to mental health practitioners and legal professionals, and of great interest to researchers and students.
