PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - LJ Bertman
AU  - Thompson JW, Jr
AU  - WF Waters
AU  - L Estupinan-Kane
AU  - JA Martin
AU  - L Russell
TI  - Effect of an individualized treatment protocol on restoration of competency in pretrial forensic inpatients
DP  - 2003 Mar 01
TA  - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
PG  - 27--35
VI  - 31
IP  - 1
4099  - http://jaapl.org/content/31/1/27.short
4100  - http://jaapl.org/content/31/1/27.full
SO  - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law2003 Mar 01; 31
AB  - In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of individualized treatment on restoration of competency in patients adjudicated incompetent to stand trial. Treatment groups included deficit-focused remediation (six individual sessions and four group sessions; n = 8), legal rights education (control group; six individual sessions and four group sessions; n = 10), and standard hospital treatment (control group; four group sessions; n = 8). There were no significant baseline differences among groups. All groups differed significantly on competency measures obtained before and after testing. The deficit-focused remediation and the legal rights education groups both demonstrated significantly higher post-treatment scores on competency measures than the standard hospital treatment group. Both groups demonstrated approximately 50 percent more improvement on the competency measures than the standard hospital treatment group. There were no significant differences between the deficit-focused remediation and legal rights education groups on post-test competency scores, suggesting that focus on individual deficits may not be a useful treatment strategy. Results demonstrate, however, that more frequent legal rights education is a worthwhile endeavor in treatment of incompetency.