Forensic Mental Health Assessment A Casebook

Name: Forensic Mental Health Assessment A Casebook
Price: 8.9 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9780195145687

ISBN-10: 0195145682

ISBN-13: 9780195145687

Edition: 2002

Authors: Kirk Heilbrun, Geoffrey Marczyk, David DeMatteo

List price: $75.00

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Description:

Forensic mental health assessments are evaluations conducted by individuals from different disciplines on a variety of questions in civil, criminal, and family law. A growing number of mental health professionals, including psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers, are being called upon to assess everything from an individual's competence to stand trial to the risk or threat of future violence, and asked to weigh in on cases ranging from murder and assault to malpractice and child custody." General principles have emerged to guide professionals conducting forensic mental health assessment. Forensic Mental Health Assessment: A Casebook illustrates those principles using relevant,…

Book details

List price: $75.00
Copyright year: 2002
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
Publication date: 4/11/2002
Binding: Hardcover
Pages: 552
Size: 7.25" wide x 10.00" long x 1.75" tall
Weight: 2.596
Language: English

Kirk Heilbrun is currently a professor in the Department of Psychology, Drexel University. His current research focuses on juvenile and adult offenders, legal decision-making, and the evaluation and interventions associated with such decision-making. He is the Co-Director of the Pennsylvania Mental Health and Justice Center of Excellence, having previously served as president of both the American Psychology-Law Psychology/APA Division 41, and the American Board of Forensic Psychology. He received the 2004 Distinguished Contributions to Forensic Psychology award and the 2008 Beth Clark Distinguished Service Contribution Award from the American Academy of Forensic Psychology.



Contributors



Introduction and Overview



Miranda Rights Waiver





Principle: Use nomothetic evidence in assessing causal connection between clinical condition and functional abilities


Teaching Point: What is the value of specialized forensic assessment instruments in forensic mental health assessment?





Principle: Use case-specific (idiographic) evidence in assessing causal connection between clinical condition and functional abilities


Teaching Point: What are the limits of forensic assessment instruments?



Competence to Act As One's Own Attorney





Principle: Clarify financial arrangements


Teaching Point: How do you clarify financial arrangements under different circumstances (e.g., performing an evaluation privately, negotiating a contract, billing hourly vs. a prespecified amount) in forensic assessment?



Competence to Stand Trial





Principle: Use plain language; avoid technical jargon


Teaching Point: How do you communicate complex scientific material to legal professionals and lay audiences?





Principle: Select and employ a model to guide data gathering, interpretation, and communication


Teaching Point: How can you use a model to structure the way you write the report?





Principle: Decline referral when impartiality is unlikely


Teaching Point: What strategies can be used for remaining as impartial as possible in high-visibility cases?





Principle: Attribute information to sources


Teaching Point: How does an evaluator separate interview data from structured-test data in analyzing, reasoning about, and communicating the results of FMHA?



Competence to be Sentenced





Principle: Use testing when indicated in assessing response style


Teaching Point: How do you assess feigned cognitive deficits?



Competence to be Executed





Principle: Attribute information to sources


Teaching Point: Why and how do you attribute information to sources in forensic mental health assessment?



Criminal Sentencing





Principle: Provide appropriate notification of purpose and/or obtain appropriate authorization before beginning


Teaching Point: How do you obtain informed consent in capital cases?





Principle: Obtain relevant historical information


Teaching Point: Role of history in sentencing in forensic mental health assessment





Principle: Decline referral when impartiality is unlikely


Teaching Point: What kinds of cases do you avoid accepting because they would make it too difficult for you to remain impartial?





Principle: Obtain relevant historical information


Teaching Point: How do you evaluate the accuracy of different sources of third-party information?



Juvenile Commitment





Principle: Accept referrals only within area of expertise


Teaching Point: What training and experience in forensic and mental health areas are needed for juvenile forensic expertise?



Juvenile Competence to Stand Trial





Principle: Use relevance and reliability (validity) as guides for seeking information and selecting data sources


Teaching Point: How does a forensic clinician decide on tools to use in evaluating juvenile competence to stand trial?





Principle: Ensure that conditions for evaluation are quiet, private, and distraction free


Teaching Point: What constitutes "good enough" testing conditions?



Juvenile Waiver and Reverse Waiver





Principle: Assess Legally relevant behavior


Teaching Point: How does a forensic clinician translate legal criteria into forensic capacities?





Principle: Use third-party information in assessing response style


Teaching Point: How can results from the interview, testing, and third-party sources be balanced?



Sanity at the Time of the Offense





Principle: Determine whether the individual understands the purpose of the evaluation and associated limits on confidentiality


Teaching Point: What are the advantages of using written versus oral notification in determining whether the notification was understood?





Principle: Do not answer the ultimate legal question directly


Teaching Point: What should be considered in the decision about whether to answer the ultimate legal question?



Mens Rea and Diminished Capacity





Principle: Use multiple sources of information for each area being assessed


Teaching Point: How much is enough? Diminishing returns from information sources



Sex Offender Sentencing





Principle: Use relevance and reliability (validity) as guides for seeking information and selecting data sources


Teaching Point: Strengths and weaknesses of classification systems





Principle: Use scientific reasoning in assessing the causal connection between clinical condition and functional abilities


Teaching Point: Sex offender typologies in sentencing



Release Decision Making





Principle: Use third-party information in assessing response style


Teaching Point: How can the influences of social desirability and defensiveness be managed in FMHA?





Principle: Use nomothetic evidence in assessing causal connection between clinical condition and functional abilities


Teaching Point: How can forensic clinicians use nomothetic evidence to apply science to practice?





Principle: Testify in an effective manner


Teaching Point: How can the forensic clinician move from "adequate" to "outstanding" in presenting expert testimony?



Child Custody





Principle: Obtain appropriate authorization


Teaching Point: Who must authorize FMHA--and how?





Principle: Avoid dual roles of therapist and forensic evaluator


Teaching Point: What strategies do you use in trying to remain impartial in the course of forensic assessment?





Principle: Base testimony on the results of the properly performed forensic mental health assessment


Teaching Point: How does the forensic clinician use the report to facilitate effective testimony?





Principle: Testify in an effective manner


Teaching Point: What kind of errors do you avoid to make your testimony more effective?



Termination of Parental Rights





Principle: Obtain appropriate authorization


Teaching Point: How can the forensic clinician handle reluctance and refusal to participate in court-ordered evaluations?



Civil Commitment





Principle: Describe findings so that they need change little under cross-examination


Teaching Point: How should the forensic clinician communicate violence risk?



Civil Psychological Injury





Principle: Determine the role to be played if the referral is accepted


Teaching Point: What are strategies for resisting pressure to play multiple roles in FMHA?





Principle: Write report in sections, according to model and procedures


Teaching Point: Why is sequential communication of FMHA results important?



Competence to Consent to Treatment





Principle: Assess relevant clinical characteristics in reliable and valid ways


Teaching Point: How do structured instruments such as the MacCAT-T increase the relevance and reliability of FMHA?



Guardianship





Principle: Determine the role to be played if the referral is accepted


Teaching Point: Can one ever play more than one role in a single FMHA case?



Malpractice





Principle: Use multiple sources of information for each area being assessed


Teaching Point: What is the role of the forensic clinician in collecting third-party information?



Worker's Compensation





Principle: Use testing when indicated in assessing response style


Teaching Point: How does the forensic clinician integrate response style data?





Principle: Assess legally relevant behavior


Teaching Point: What is the relationship between symptoms and disability in capacity to work?



Threat/Risk Assessment





Principle: Identify relevant forensic issues


Teaching Point: What are strategies for predicting violent behavior, and others for assessing risk reduction?





Principle: Clarify role with attorney


Teaching Point: What are strategies for avoiding dual roles in FMHA?





Principle: Use nomothetic evidence in assessing causal connection between clinical condition and functional abilities


Teaching Point: What are the advantages and disadvantages of using actuarial approaches in risk assessment in forensic contexts?



Malingering





Principle: Use case-specific (idiographic) evidence in assessing clinical condition, functional abilities, and causal connection


Teaching Point: How does case-specific evidence contribute to the assessment of malingering?


References


Index