Response distortion in applications of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) in offender rehabilitation

Abstract

The MMPI-2 continues to be widely used in many areas of professional forensic psychology, including the evaluation of criminal offenders for rehabilitation purposes. While many possible applications of the MMPI exist, not all are well-supported by strong empirical evidence. The origins of the scale among psychiatric populations suggest some utility in detecting other forms of psychopathology in use with offenders. In many applications with offenders, the utility of the validity scales and indicators of the MMPI/MMPI-2 in the detection of invalid or questionable profiles may rival the interpretation of the clinical scales in value. This commentary summarizes issues and research upon the nature and utility of the MMPI/MMPI-2 scales and indices that have been developed to detect various forms of response distortion that can affect the validity of the instrument.