Abstract

The number of offenders who are referred for pre-trial forensic psychological evaluation has increased, and there is greater need to rule out malingering among these referrals. Malingering is defined as intentional exaggeration of symptoms in order to avoid their criminal responsibility. This study compared three groups of offenders based upon results from forensic psychological evaluation : normal group, schizophrenia group, and behavior disorder group including personality disorder and sex-related disorders. Significant differences were found among the groups in their MMPI-2 and SCL-90-R scores, types of offenses, recidivism, and other demographical backgrounds. Normal group and behavior disorder group scored significantly higher than schizophrenia group in scales of psychopathology, which supported possibility of malingering. In order to differentiate schizophrenia group from the other groups in terms of malingering possibility, ROC was utilized to F scale and F-K score, which indicated these two scales had sensitivity to detect malingering not high enough to be independently utilized in forensic psychological evaluations. It was suggested that more brief, efficient, and sensitive malingering detection measures should be developed and utilized.