Dimensions of Incompetency: A Factor Analytic Study of the Georgia Court Competency Test

✍ Scribed by Richard Rogers; Karen L. Ustad; Kenneth W. Sewell; Vianey Reinhardt

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 500 KB
• Volume: 14
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0735-3936
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0798(199622)14:3<323::aid-bsl243>3.0.co;2-z

✦ Synopsis

The Georgia Court Competency Test (GCCT) was developed to systematically evaluate knowledge and skills needed to be competent to stand trial. Previous research has identified three factors measured by the GCCT: General Legal Knowledge, Courtroom Layout, and Specific Legal Knowledge. In this study, 125 mentally disordered offenders were examined using the GCCT. Confirmatory factor analysis failed to confirm the previously identified model. As a result, the authors advocate modifying the clinical use of the GCCT. Specifically, they suggest employing the GCCT as a checklist to identify potential deficits requiring more comprehensive evaluation.

The Georgia Court Competency Test (GCCT; Wildman er al., 1980) was originally developed as a clinical measure that was designed to systematically evaluate knowledge and skills necessary for competency to stand trial. During the early 1980s, the GCCT was virtually ignored by forensic researchers with only circumscribed use in clinical settings (Grisso, 1986). Since that time, however, research and forensic applications of the GCCT have continued to grow with evidence of its reliability and criterion-related validity (