Offenders often sense the purpose of items in traditional questionnaires and respond as they want others to see them. Computerized assessments are as reliable as traditional ones and meet with greater acceptance by offenders, according to several studies. Validation research also suggests the potential of computerized assessments. Clinicians' resistance to computerized diagnostics will probably decline as the increased speed, efficiency, and effectiveness of this approach are recognized. Computerized questionnaires like the Automated Social History can provide information useful to courts, probation officers, and researchers. Using computers can eliminate the errors that the human tester introduces during test administration. In addition, computers can monitor physiological responses to questions. Voice synthesizers add the potential for talking to the offender. Computer uses described in the literature include a computerized dictionary for psychiatric definitions, a system for note-taking, computer-assisted diagnostic programs, and testing of personality dimensions called ergs. 1 figure.