The SIRS-2 is an updated version of the original Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms(SIRS), an industry workhorse that forensic professionals have relied on for almost 20 years.
Lutz, Fla. (PRWEB) June 2, 2010
It just became easier to identify prisoners, juvenile offenders and other members of forensic populations who are exaggerating mental disorders for personal gain. The recently released Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms, 2nd Edition (SIRS-2), evaluates feigning of psychiatric symptoms and the manner in which it is likely to occur.
The SIRS-2 is an updated version of the original Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms(SIRS), an industry workhorse that forensic professionals have relied on for almost 20 years. Like the original SIRS, the SIRS-2 includes a 16-page Interview Booklet that contains 172 items, a portion of which are repeated inquiries to detect response inconsistencies. The content covers a wide range of psychopathology, as well as symptoms that are unlikely to be true.
In addition to expanded scoring and classification, the SIRS-2 includes:
-A new Spanish-language Interview Booklet;
-Classification of responses as feigning, genuine, indeterminate, or disengagement;
-Two security templates to block item content for situations when evaluators are legally required to produce item responses;
-A wealth of empirical data to support psychological evaluations closely scrutinized in a court setting; and
-Updated malingering literature with special attention to detection strategies and their clinical applications to feigned mental disorders. It combines data from the original SIRS validation studies with more recent research and includes a conceptual framework for understanding feigned mental disorders plus explicit instructions for administration, scoring, and classification.
Both versions were authored by Richard Rogers, PhD, ABPP, one of the founding fathers of the field of clinical-forensic psychology. Additional authors of the original SIRS include R. Michael Bagby, PhD, and Susan E. Dickens, MA. Additional authors for the SIRS-2 include Kenneth W. Sewell, PhD, and Nathan D. Gillard, MS. The SIRS-2 can be purchased online through its publisher, PAR, Inc.
About PAR, Inc.
Founded in 1978, PAR, Inc. is a leading publisher of assessment instruments, software, and other related materials. Over the past three decades, the Lutz, Fla.-based company has earned a reputation for providing customers with innovative assessment solutions and unparalleled customer service.
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