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A Case Law Survey of the Personality Assessment Inventory: Examining Its Role in Civil and Criminal Trials

2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 90; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00223890701885084

1532-7752

Kacy Mullen, John F. Edens,

Counseling Practices and Supervision

Although professional surveys suggest that the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991 Morey, L. 1991. The Personality Assessment Inventory: Professional manual, Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. [Google Scholar]) is a popular instrument among forensic and correctional psychologists, relatively little is known about the specific types of legal cases in which it is applied, the particular types of questions it is used to address, or the extent to which its admissibility has been at issue in court cases. Using a comprehensive legal database, we surveyed all published U.S., Canadian, European, and Australian criminal and civil cases in which the PAI was administered. The PAI appears to be introduced by examiners in a wide variety of civil (e.g., child custody, personal injury) and criminal (e.g., insanity, competence) cases to aid in the assessment of a broad range of psychopathology. Additionally, the PAI seems to be used frequently to assess questions concerning potential dissimulation and response styles. Surprisingly, the admissibility of the PAI into evidence was never at issue in any of the cases reviewed.