NCJ Number
133942
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 19 Dated: (1991) Pages: 471-479
Date Published
1991
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This analysis of the appropriateness of the Guilty But Mentally Ill (GBMI) law of 1975 compared the psychological characteristics and discharge of diagnoses of 101 convicted felons in Kentucky, including 31 GBMI offenders, 40 psychiatric inpatients, and 30 convicted felons housed in a medium-security prison and not referred for inpatient psychiatric treatment during the 4 years of the study.
Abstract
The offenders were all males, and the data was collected from July 1982 to June 1986, the first 4 years following the inception of the GBMI verdict in Kentucky. The instruments used included the Minnesota Multiphase Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised. Multivariate analysis of the results supported the hypothesis that GBMI offenders were measurably mentally disordered. However, GBMI offenders were not found to be significantly different from the general convicted offender population or from the prison inpatient group except on the MMPI scale (Hypomania). Results indicated that the GBMI verdict has been ineffective in accomplishing its stated goals of guaranteeing treatment for mentally ill offenders and reducing the number of acquittals based on the insanity defense. Further research should focus on the generalizability of results to other types of prisons and to female offenders. Tables and 25 references (Author abstract modified)