Talk:Thomas Grisso

Infobox

I suggest adding an Infobox for clarity. I've drafted an infobox:

Thomas Grisso
Born	October 1942 (age 83) Dayton, Ohio
Education	Ashland University (BA, 1964), University of Arizona (Ph.D., 1969)
Years active	1970 - present
Known for	Research to improve forensic mental health assessments

--VictoriaDawn1 (talk) 22:37, 3 November 2025 (UTC)

Preface

Move the first three sentences to the Lead.

- Change to "Thomas Grisso is an American psychological researcher and Professor Emeritus of the Chan Medical school at the University of Massachusetts. Grisso's research has forged a pathway for the reshaping of Juvenile Justice systems’ policy and adolescent forensic evaluation, for this, he has been coined ‘The Architect”."

Change heading for remaining section to "Personal Life" Emerriwether (talk) 13:33, 23 October 2025 (UTC)

I suggest the following for the preface, which gives a higher-level overview of the subject, links to other relevant Wikipedia pages, adds additional sources, and moves the notes about his childhood to a later section.

Thomas Grisso (né John Thomas Grisso; born October 1942) is an American clinical and forensic psychologist.

Grisso is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School . He co-developed (with Paul Appelbaum) and later directed the Law and Psychiatry Program at UMass Chan Medial School , a research and training program in forensic psychology and psychiatry.

During his career, Grisso has been a leading contributor to the field of Psychology and Law and, specifically, forensic mental health assessment. His research focused on improving laws and policies to promote the rights and welfare of adolescents and adults in contact with the criminal, civil, and juvenile justice systems. He is one of the earliest researchers to publish about the role of psychology in juvenile justice, including youth’s capacity to understand Miranda rights and competency to stand trial. His contributions have helped shape the field of Psychology and Law since its earliest days in the 1970s.

VictoriaDawn1 (talk) 23:06, 3 November 2025 (UTC)

Personal Life

I suggest moving the notes about Thomas's childhood to the Personal Life section. I also suggest adding details about his birth place and the place he was raised.

Grisso was born October 1942 in Dayton, Ohio. He moved with his family to Tucson, Arizona when he was seven years old. His father was a minister, and his mother a special education teacher, both of whom he credits for modeling the importance of service to others, which influenced the direction of his career.

VictoriaDawn1 (talk) 23:13, 3 November 2025 (UTC)

Educational Background

Change to "Education"

Can you find who his doctoral supervisor was?

Change to "In 1998, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York presented Grisso with an Honorary Doctorate of Law." Put the cites at the end of the sentence.

Remove last sentence as that info goes to Career section. Emerriwether (talk) 13:37, 23 October 2025 (UTC)

I was not able to find his doctoral supervisor. I will make sure to keep my eyes out. GFD210 (talk) 16:09, 29 October 2025 (UTC)

I believe it is more accurate to say Grisso graduated in 1964 or attended from 1960-1964. "In 1964, Grisso attended..." sounds like he only was there one year.

I also suggest moving his Honorary Doctorate of Law to the Awards section, as it is more of an award/recognition and less his formal education.

My suggested version is: Grisso completed his undergraduate studies in psychology and sociology at Ashland University in Ohio (1960-1964). He returned to Arizona to complete his graduate studies at the University of Arizona, receiving his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology (1964-1969). VictoriaDawn1 (talk) 23:25, 3 November 2025 (UTC)

Career

Teaching

Delete sub-heading.

Change to "psychology undergraduate students"

Don't capitalize "juvenile's" or "rights" in "Miranda rights"

See if you can find a second cite for his APA Fellow title.

Watch your tenses throughout as well as punctuation and grammar generally.

Change to "American Psychology-Law Society"

Research

Move this to it's own section.

Explicitly mention the SCOTUS decisions his research was cited in (i.e., Roper v Simmons, 2005; Graham v Florida, 2010; Miller v Alabama, 2012).

Author

I would include this underneath the Research section. If you want to make a list of all his books, you can or just highlight the more popular ones. Emerriwether (talk) 13:50, 23 October 2025 (UTC)

I could not find a second citation for his APA title of Fellow ElizabethJen17 (talk) 22:51, 1 November 2025 (UTC)

I've drafted a list of his books organized by author, co-author, and co-editor. I think this could be it's own section. I'll create a section on this Talk page to show the suggested addition.

Here's a source for his APA Fellow designation effective 1/1/1982: https://fellows.apa.org/ (search "Grisso") VictoriaDawn1 (talk) 17:25, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

Suggested Re-Write

I've drafted my suggestion of Grisso's career section that incorporates the Editorial Work information.

Grisso held faculty positions in Psychology at Ashland University (1969-1974) and Saint Louis University (1974-1987) before joining the faculty at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School in 1987.

Grisso’s research focused on translating the law's concerns about human behaviors into psychological concepts that can be studied scientifically, providing scientific evidence for recommended reforms in the law’s assumptions about human behavior, and constructing forensic mental health assessment instruments for psychological evaluations for courts.

Grisso contributed to the development of five screening and assessment tools including the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T), the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument–Second Version (MAYSI-2), the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Clinical Research (MacCAT-CR), the Classification of Violence Risk (COVR), and the Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments (MRCI).

He was co-editor of the Oxford University Press book series on “Best Practices in Forensic Mental Health Assessment,” including 19 volumes devoted to improving forensic mental health evaluations. He also co-chaired the development of the American Psychology-Law Society’s first specialty guidelines for ethical and competent practice of forensic psychology.

Grisso served as Executive Director of the American Board of Forensic Psychology (now part of the American Board of Professional Psychology), which provides board certification in the specialty of forensic psychology nationwide. As Director of the University of Massachusetts’ Law and Psychiatry Program, he contributed to the training of post-degree clinical professionals for specialization in forensic mental health practice and provided training and certification required for forensic psychologists employed by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health.

Grisso served terms as president of the American Psychology-Law Society (1989-1990) and on the Council of Representatives of the American Psychological Association. He is an Editorial Board Reviewer for several professional journals, including: Law and Human Behavior; Psychology, Public Policy, and Law; Criminal Justice and Behavior; and Psychological Assessment.

He is currently a partner at the National Youth Screening and Assessment Partners, LLC which provides consultation on risk and mental health assessment of youth in the juvenile justice system.

VictoriaDawn1 (talk) 21:46, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

Research / Major Contributions

For clarity and readability, I suggest breaking down Grisso's research into categories of contribution. I also suggest "Major Contributions" as the section heading, as his work, while grounded in research, often went beyond publishing the findings (for example, contributing to amicus breifs, develppping assessments, etc.)

Here's my suggested edit:

Understanding Legal Competencies

Grisso developed a model for conceptualizing and understanding the essential legal components common to all criminal and civil legal competencies, providing a structure for lawmakers, judges, and forensic mental health experts when assessing legal competencies.

Juveniles’ Rights in Police Interrogation

Grisso’s research projects provided the first scientific evidence of juveniles’ lesser capacities than adults to be able to waive Miranda rights to silence and counsel. Based on the results, he recommended changes in law to offer better legal protection against youths’ invalid confessions in police interrogation. The instruments used in this research were later published as the Miranda Rights Comprehension Instrument (MRCI) and revised MRCI for use by clinicians to evaluate a youth’s capacities to waive Miranda rights.

Competence to Consent to Treatment

With Paul Appelbaum, Grisso provided scientific evidence to address law and policy regarding the capacities of persons with mental disorders to consent to or refuse medical treatment. They co-developed and validated the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T) for use by physicians to evaluate patients’ capacities to consent.

Juveniles’ Competence to Stand Trial

Grisso conducted the first major study of adolescents’ abilities as defendants to understand and participate in their trials rights. The study highlighted the need for significant changes to state laws and contributed to the development of a guide and assessment tool for use by forensic clinicians in evaluations of youth for competence to stand trial.

These findings contributed to Amicus Briefs by the American Psychological Association in three U.S. Supreme Court decisions (Roper v. Simmons, Graham v. Florida, and Miller v. Alabama) recognizing that youth are less blameworthy than adults, requiring different sentencing policies when tried in criminal court for crimes committed during adolescence.

Mental Health Screening in Juvenile Justice

Grisso co-developed and validated the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument - Second Edition (MAYSI-2), a mental health screening for use in juvenile detention centers. MAYSI-2 is used by intake staff at juvenile detention centers to identify youth with mental health problems in need of attention, such as suicidal ideation. MAYSI-2 is now used in a majority of juvenile justice facilities in the U.S.

VictoriaDawn1 (talk) 18:17, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

Editorial Work

Watch tense, he is not dead.

Delete "but not limited to"

Italicize journal titles and hyperlink to their wiki pages when possible. Emerriwether (talk) 13:52, 23 October 2025 (UTC)

Since this section is quite short, I suggest incorporating it into the "Career" section. VictoriaDawn1 (talk) 17:21, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

Awards

You mention awards throughout so I don't know if you need a dedicated section. If you find supporting evidence of more of his awards (see his CV for full list), then you can add a table here. Emerriwether (talk) 13:52, 23 October 2025 (UTC)

I think it makes sense to move all mentions of awards to one section. Here is my suggestion with awards organized by date along with additional references.

Grisso’s work has received numerous career awards and honors from national organizations. He received the Award for Distinguished Contribution to Research in Public Policy (1995) and the Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research (2014) from the American Psychological Association, the Isaac Ray award for outstanding contributions to forensic psychiatry (2005) from the American Psychiatric Association, the Beth Clark Award (2009) from the American Academy of Forensic Psychology, the Distinguished Contributions to Psychology and Law award from the American Psychology–Law Society (2012), the Chancellor’s Medal for Scholarship at University of Massachusetts (2013), and most recently the Leadership Prize from the Juvenile Law Center (2022).

Grisso was elected as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (U.K.) in 2006 and received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 1998. VictoriaDawn1 (talk) 17:18, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

References

Books

Here is my suggested addition for Grisso's book list.

Sole Author

• Juveniles’ Waiver of Rights: Legal and Psychological Competence (1981) ISBN 9780306405266
• Competency to Stand Trial: A Manual for Practice (1998) ISBN 9780943158518
• Evaluating Competencies: Forensic Assessments and Instruments (1996; second edition 2003) ISBN 9780306479229
• Forensic Evaluation of Juveniles (1998; second edition 2013) ISBN 9781568872216
• Double Jeopardy: Adolescent Offenders with Mental Disorders (2003) ISBN 9780226309293
• Evaluating Juveniles’ Adjudicative Competence: A Guide for Clinical Practice (2005) ISBN 9781568870953
• Competence to Stand Trial Evaluations: Just the Basics (2014) ISBN 9781568872032

Co-Authored

• Assessing Competence to Consent to Treatment: A Guide for Physicians and Other Health Professionals (1998) (with P. Appelbaum) ISBN 9780195103724
• Rethinking Risk Assessment: The MacArthur Study of Mental Disorder and Violence (2001) with John Monahan, Henry J. Steadman, Eric Silver, Paul S. Appelbaum, Pamela Clark Robbins, Edward P. Mulvey, Loren H. Roth and Steven Banks, ISBN 9780198031741
• Evaluation of Juveniles’ Competence to Stand Trial (2009) with Ivan Kruh, ISBN 9780195323078
• Specialty Competencies in Forensic Psychology (2011) with Ira K. Packer, ISBN 9780195390834
• Evaluations for Sentencing of Juveniles in Criminal Court (2021) with Antoinette Kavanaugh, ISBN 9780190052812

Co-edited

• Understanding Aggressive Behavior in Children (1996) with Craig F. Ferris, ISBN 9781573310130
• Handbook of Mental Health Screening and Assessment in Juvenile Justice (2005) with Gina Vincent and Daniel Seagrave, ISBN 9781593855468
• Animal Maltreatment: Forensic Issues and Evaluations (2015) with Lacey Levitt and Gary Patronek, ISBN 9780190275679
• The Roots of Modern Psychology and Law: A Narrative History (2018) with Stanley L. Brodsky, ISBN 9780190688707

VictoriaDawn1 (talk) 20:21, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

Overall comments

I recommend looking through his CV and seeing what else you can find corroborating evidence of: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/671bbc8472a04d68c678b2ae/t/68cb2611195c5d134eedb777/1758144017432/GrissoCV2025.pdf

You can also add an "External Links" section at the bottom for his Google Scholar profile and the like.Emerriwether (talk) 13:53, 23 October 2025 (UTC)

Re-writing the preface

• What I think should be changed (include citations):

−

'''Thomas Grisso''' is an American clinical and forensic psychologist and Professor Emeritus of the [[University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School]]. Grisso's research has forged a pathway for the reshaping of Juvenile Justice systems' policy and adolescent forensic evaluation, for this, he has been coined 'The Architect". Grisso's father was a [[Brethren Church |Brethren]] minister and his mother was a special education teacher; his parents were a significant inspiration for his research of juveniles.

+

Thomas Grisso (né John Thomas Grisso; born October 1942) is an American clinical and forensic psychologist.Grisso is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the [[UMass Chan Medical School|University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School]] . He co-developed (with [[Paul Appelbaum]]) and later directed the Law and Psychiatry Program at UMass Chan Medial School , a research and training program in forensic psychology and psychiatry.During his career, Grisso has been a leading contributor to the field of Psychology and Law and, specifically, forensic mental health assessment. His research focused on improving laws and policies to promote the rights and welfare of adolescents and adults in contact with the criminal, civil, and juvenile justice systems. He is one of the earliest researchers to publish about the role of psychology in juvenile justice, including youth’s capacity to understand Miranda rights and competency to stand trial. His contributions have helped shape the field of Psychology and Law since its earliest days in the 1970s.

• Why it should be changed: I suggest the above re-write for the preface, which gives a higher-level overview of the subject, links to other relevant Wikipedia pages, adds additional sources, and moves the notes about his childhood to a later, more relevant, section.

• References supporting the possible change (format using the "cite" button):

"Thomas Grisso | Profiles RNS". profiles.umassmed.edu. Retrieved October 5, 2025.

Sarkar, Sameer P. (September 1, 2018). "Professor Thomas Grisso: The "Architect"". Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online. 46 (3): 279–285. doi:10.29158/JAAPL.003784-18. ISSN 1093-6793.

Post-doctoral Residency (Fellowship) Program in Forensic Psychology, UMass Chan Medical School, retrieved 2025-11-03

VictoriaDawn1 (talk) 21:02, 12 November 2025 (UTC)

Not done: A majority of the requested changes are currently written in a promotional tone. Please review WP:Neutral point of view and ensure you follow this before submitting any edit requests. Specifically, your proposed 3rd paragraph is very promotional in tone. Feel free to resubmit another COI request if you so desire! Mustbeotherwise (talk) 01:38, 26 January 2026 (UTC)