Managing Inmate Risk in the United States: Construct and Predictive Validity of the Prison Inmate Inventory

Abstract

To assess the construct and criterion validity of the Prison Inmate Inventory (PII), this study examined the ability of four PII scales to predict measures representing the potential for criminal recidivism and return/increased duration of prison sentence in a large population of prisoners (N = 31,954) in the United States. Criminal history measures used to test the construct and criterion validity included self-reported number of felony arrests, parole violations, probation violations, and escape attempts. Four PII scales including truthfulness, violence, adjustment, and stress coping abilities were examined. Mean difference testing between first and multiple offenders was used to assess construct validity and Poisson regression models controlling for criminal demographics were used to assess criterion validity. Results indicated that the select PII scales exhibited good construct and predictive validity in terms of identifying potential criminal recidivists and inmates who may attempt to escape.