Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law

of assessing competence and determining the appro-

priateness of guardianship, especially in cases involv-

ing older adults whose functional and cognitive

abilities and limitations fluctuate. Judges must balance

an individual’s right to self-determination against that

person’s and society’s need to be protected. To assist

them in these decisions, judges rely on evaluative data

provided by medical or mental health professionals

who have examined the proposed ward and may have

conducted various psychological tests. Unfortunately,

these evaluations often lack important information

concerning diagnosis, prognosis, the strengths of the

proposed ward, and his or her preferences.

A second concern is the ability of guardians to pro-

tect their wards without exceeding the bounds of their

authority while also promoting the choices that the

wards would make for themselves. Some data suggest

that surrogate and proxy decision makers have diffi-

culty predicting the choices and describing the status

of the persons they represent.

A third issue concerns the impact of guardianship

on the lives of the ward and the petitioner—namely,

the extent to which guardianship enhances psycholog-

ical and physical well-being. Undoubtedly, many

people who become wards fare better with assistance

than they would without, particularly in cases where

abuse, neglect, or exploitation precipitated the peti-

tion. However, data also suggest that some older

wards have felt angry, resentful, agitated, and upset by

the guardianship proceedings and that the appoint-

ment of a guardian does not necessarily protect all of

the interests of younger people with disabilities.

Edith Greene

See also Financial Capacity; Proxy Decision Making;

Testamentary Capacity

Further Readings

Lisi, L., Burns, A., & Lussenden, K. (1994). National

study of guardianship systems: Findings and

recommendations. Ann Arbor, MI: Center for

Social Gerontology.

Millar, D., & Rengazlia, A. (2002). Factors affecting

guardianship practices for young adults with disabilities.

Exceptional Children, 68,465–484.

Moye, J. (2003). Guardianship and conservatorship.

In T. Grisso (Ed.),Evaluating competencies: Forensic

assessments and instruments(pp. 309–389). New York:

Kluwer Academic/Plenum.

Testa, M. (2004). When children cannot return home: Adoption

and guardianship. The Future of Children, 14,114–129.

Wilber, K., Reiser, T., & Harter, K. (2001). New perspectives

on conservatorship: The views of older adult conservatees

and their conservators. Aging Neuropsychology and

Cognition, 8,225–240.

GUDJONSSON

SUGGESTIBILITYSCALES

The Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales (GSS 1 and GSS 2)

are clinical instruments designed to assess levels of

interrogative suggestibility. The scales provide a total

score for suggestibility based on responses to leading

questions and negative feedback. They also provide

measures of memory recall and confabulation. The

scales are used in forensic assessments and are also

useful research tools, as they provide a quantifiable

measure of levels of interrogative suggestibility and an

extensive range of norms against which various

hypotheses can be tested.

Description

Gisli Gudjonsson developed two scales of interroga-

tive suggestibility designed to be used as forensic tools

to help assess the reliability of confessions that have

been retracted. The scales also help identify those indi-

viduals who may be particularly vulnerable to the pres-

sures associated with police interviews and who, as a

result, may require extra care during interviewing. As

well as their clinical applications, the scales are also

used for research purposes to investigate the social

psychological processes that influence the levels of

interrogative suggestibility. The GSS 1 and the GSS 2

are identical in structure; each comprises a spoken nar-

rative and 20 questions about that narrative. The con-

tent of the GSS 2 narrative is less complex than that of

the GSS 1 narrative, and for this reason, the GSS 2 is

more commonly used with children or adults with

learning disabilities. The scales are therefore parallel

in form and produce closely comparable norms.

Administration

The narratives each contain 40 distinct pieces of infor-

mation. Of the 20 questions for both scales, 15 are

340 ———Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales

G-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:43 PM Page 340