TY - JOUR
T1 - Predicting Institutional Violence among Death Row Inmates
T2 - The Utility of the Sorensen and Pilgrim Model
AU - Buffington-Vollum, Jacqueline K.
AU - Edens, John F.
AU - Keilen, Andrea
PY - 2008/12/1
Y1 - 2008/12/1
N2 - The (Sorensen and Pilgrim, An actuarial risk assessment of violence posed by capital murder defendants. J Crim Law Criminol 90:1251-1270, 2000) actuarial model was developed to predict institutional violence among life-sentenced murderers. However, despite its presentation at capital sentencing, the model has not been validated on death row inmates specifically. This study examined the association between Sorensen and Pilgrim model scores and five types of institutional violence (serious assaults, minor assaults, verbal assault/threats, prison order offenses, and non-violent infractions) among a sample of 155 individuals who had been incarcerated on death row in Texas. Results revealed that risk scores performed better for non-violent infractions than for serious assaults, calling into question the utility of this measure for capital sentencing evaluations.
AB - The (Sorensen and Pilgrim, An actuarial risk assessment of violence posed by capital murder defendants. J Crim Law Criminol 90:1251-1270, 2000) actuarial model was developed to predict institutional violence among life-sentenced murderers. However, despite its presentation at capital sentencing, the model has not been validated on death row inmates specifically. This study examined the association between Sorensen and Pilgrim model scores and five types of institutional violence (serious assaults, minor assaults, verbal assault/threats, prison order offenses, and non-violent infractions) among a sample of 155 individuals who had been incarcerated on death row in Texas. Results revealed that risk scores performed better for non-violent infractions than for serious assaults, calling into question the utility of this measure for capital sentencing evaluations.
KW - Capital sentencing
KW - Death penalty
KW - Death row
KW - Expert testimony
KW - Future dangerousness
KW - Institutional violence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84873255961&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1007/s11896-008-9016-9
DO - 10.1007/s11896-008-9016-9
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84873255961
SN - 0882-0783
VL - 23
SP - 16
EP - 22
JO - Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology
JF - Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology
IS - 1
ER -