Psychological Evaluations for the Courts, Fourth Edition A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals and Lawyers

Tens of thousands of readers have relied on this leading text and practitioner reference--now revised and updated--to understand the issues the legal system most commonly asks mental health professionals to address. The volume demystifies the forensic psychological assessment process and provides guidelines for participating effectively and ethically in legal proceedings. Presented are clinical and legal concepts and evidence-based assessment procedures pertaining to criminal and civil competencies, the insanity defense and related doctrines, sentencing, civil commitment, personal injury claims, antidiscrimination laws, child custody, juvenile justice, and other justice-related areas. Case examples, exercises, and a glossary facilitate learning; 19 sample reports illustrate how to conduct and write up thorough, legally admissible evaluations.

New to This Edition
*Extensively revised to reflect important legal, empirical, and clinical developments.
*Increased attention to medical and neuroscientific research.
*New protocols relevant to competence, risk assessment, child custody, and mental injury evaluations.
*Updates on insanity, sentencing, civil commitment, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Social Security, juvenile and family law, and the admissibility of expert testimony.
*Material on immigration law (including a sample report) and international law.
*New and revised sample reports.

Gary B. Melton, PhD, is Associate Director for Community Development and Social Policy at the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect, Professor of Pediatrics, and Professor of Community and Behavioral Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. He is also Visiting Professor of Education and Family Medicine at the University of Virginia and Adjunct Professor of Youth, Family, and Community Studies at Clemson University. Dr. Melton has received Distinguished Contributions Awards from the American Professional Society on Abuse of Children, the American Psychological Association (four times, a unique achievement), the American Psychological Foundation, and Prevent Child Abuse America, among other organizations. The author of more than 350 publications, he is senior editor of the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.
 
John Petrila, JD, LLM, is Vice President of Adult Policy at Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute. Previously, he was Chair and Professor of Health Policy and Management at the University of South Florida College of Public Health. He is a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship and of the University of South Florida President’s Faculty Excellence Award. Dr. Petrila's research interests include the diversion of people with mental illnesses from the justice system, coercion, and strategies to reduce recidivism of heavy users of the treatment and justice systems. Recent papers focus on emergency hospitalizations of people with mental illnesses, national review of emergency civil commitment legislation, and the current status of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
 
Norman G. Poythress, PhD, is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy at the University of South Florida, where he served as Research Director from 1990 to 2010. He is a past president of the American Psychology-Law Society, which honored him with its Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology and Law. He is also a recipient of the University of South Florida President’s Faculty Excellence Award. Dr. Poythress has published more than 100 research articles and book chapters on forensic assessment, mental health courts, research ethics, and psychopathic behavior.
 
Christopher Slobogin, JD, LLM, is Milton Underwood Chair at Vanderbilt University Law School. He is the first law professor to receive Distinguished Contribution Awards from both the American Psychology-Law Society and the American Board of Forensic Psychology. Mr. Slobogin has published over 150 works on mental health law and criminal justice, and is currently one of the 40 most cited law professors in the country. He recently served as chair of the task force revising the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Mental Health Standards, and is editor of Behavioral Sciences and the Law.
 
Randy K. Otto, PhD, ABPP, is Associate Professor in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy at the University of South Florida, where he has been on the faculty since 1989. He also teaches in the Departments of Psychology and Criminology. Board-certified in clinical and forensic psychology, Dr. Otto has served as president of the American Psychology-Law Society, the American Board of Forensic Psychology, and the American Board of Professional Psychology. His contributions to forensic psychological assessment have been recognized with awards from the American Academy of Forensic Psychology and the forensic division of the New York State Psychological Association.
 
Douglas Mossman, MD, is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Program Director of the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. A board-certified general and forensic psychiatrist and Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. Mossman has authored more than 180 publications on diverse issues in medicine and law, including competence, judgment models, malingering measures, psychotropic medication, malpractice, psychiatric ethics, and novel mathematical approaches to diagnostic assessment. He is a recipient of the American Psychiatric Association’s Manfred S. Guttmacher Award for outstanding contributions to the literature on forensic psychiatry. Hundreds of scientific and legal works cite his 1994 article, "Assessing Predictions of Violence: Being Accurate about Accuracy."
 
Lois O. Condie, PhD, ABPP, is affiliated with the Department of Neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital and is Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Condie is board-certified in neuropsychology, clinical psychology, and forensic psychology. She has received citations and awards from the Social Security Administration, the American Board of Forensic Psychology, the American Academy of Forensic Psychology, and the American Board of Professional Psychology. Her research focuses on assessments and entitlement legislation for children with neurodevelopmental and other disorders, services for vulnerable populations internationally, psychological and legal conceptions of privacy, and ethics and standards of practice.

I. General Considerations
1. Law and the Mental Health Professions: An Uneasy Alliance
1.01. The Context for Law and Behavioral Science
1.02. Some Preliminary Problems in Law and Mental Health
1.03. Paradigm Conflicts
1.04. Should Mental Health Professionals Be Considered Experts?
1.05. Which Professionals Should Be Considered Experts?
1.06. Conclusion
Bibliography
2. An Overview of the Legal System: Sources of Law, the Court System, and the Adjudicative Process
2.01. Introduction
2.02. Sources of Law
2.03. The Court System
2.04. The Adjudicative Process
2.05. Conclusion: The Interplay of Systems
Bibliography
3. The Nature and Method of Forensic Assessment
3.01. Introduction
3.02. Distinctions between Therapeutic and Forensic Assessment
3.03. Testing and Assessment Procedures
3.04. Archival and Third-Party Information
3.05. Amnesia
3.06. Assessment of Response Style
3.07. Challenges to the Basis of Expert Testimony
3.08. Conclusion
Bibliography
4. Constitutional, Common-Law, and Ethical Contours of the Evaluation Process: The Mental Health Professional as Double Agent
4.01. Introduction
4.02. The Fifth Amendment and the Right to Remain Silent
4.03. The Right to Counsel
4.04. Common-Law and Statutory Duties of the Evaluator
4.05. Ethical Considerations in the Evaluation Process
4.06. Summary: Competence in Forensic Practice
Bibliography
5. Managing Public and Private Forensic Services
5.01. Introduction
5.02. The Case for Specialization
5.03. Types of Evaluation Systems
5.05. Effective Diffusion of Behavioral Science Research
5.06. Operating a Forensic Practice
Bibliography
II. The Criminal Process
6. Competence to Proceed
6.01. Introduction
6.02. The Legal Standard
6.03. Procedural Issues
6.04. Disposition of Incompetent Defendants
6.05. Competence during Proceedings Other Than Trial or Plea Hearings
6.06. Research Relating to Competence Evaluations
6.07. Structured Evaluation Formats
6.08. Special Populations
6.09. Guidelines for Evaluation
6.10. Conclusion
Bibliography
7. Other Competencies in the Criminal Process
7.01. Introduction
7.02. Competence to Consent to a Search or Seizure
7.03. Competence to Exercise the Right to Remain Silent
7.04. Competence to Plead Guilty
7.05. Competence to Waive the Right to Counsel and to Represent Oneself
7.06. Competence to Refuse an Insanity Defense and Other Mental State Defenses
7.07. Competence to Testify
7.08. Competence to Be Executed and to Participate in and Waive Appeals
Bibliography
8. Mental State at the Time of the Offense
8.01. Introduction
8.02. The Insanity Defense
8.03. Exculpatory and Mitigating Doctrines Other Than Insanity
8.04. Research on the Relationship of Diagnosis to MSO Defenses
8.05. Characteristics of Clinicians’ MSO Opinions
8.06. MSO Investigation
8.07. Clinical Formulations about MSO
8.08. Conclusion
Bibliography
9. Sentencing
9.01. Introduction
9.02. A Brief History of Sentencing
9.03. A Comparison of Rehabilitative and Retributive Sentencing
9.04. Special Sentencing Provisions
9.05. Capital Sentencing
9.06. Factors Influencing Sentencing
9.07. Assessment of Treatment Needs
9.08. Assessment of Culpability
9.09. Assessing Risk of Violence and Recidivism
Bibliography
III. Noncriminal Adjudication
10. Civil Commitment
10.01. Introduction
10.02. History of Commitment Law
10.03. Substantive Criteria for Commitment
10.04. Procedural Due Process
10.05. The Effects of Commitment Laws and Commitment
10.06. Attorney’s Role
10.07. Clinician’s Role
10.08. Commitment Evaluation
10.09. The Process of the Evaluation
10.10. Special Commitment Settings and Populations
Bibliography
11. Civil Competencies
11.01. Introduction
11.02. Guardianship
11.03. Competence to Make Treatment Decisions
11.04. Competence to Consent to Research
11.05. Testamentary Capacity
Bibliography
12. Compensating Mental Injury: Workers’ Compensation and Torts
12.01. Introduction
12.02. Workers’ Compensation Law: An Overview
12.03. The Tort of Emotional Distress
12.04. Causation in Mental Injury Cases: A Paradigm Clash?
12.05. Clinical Evaluation of Mental Injury
12.06. Conclusion: Reports and Testimony
Bibliography
13. Federal Antidiscrimination, Entitlement, and Immigration Laws
13.01. Introduction
13.02. Americans with Disabilities Act
13.03. Fair Housing Amendments Act
13.04. Social Security Laws
13.05. Immigration Law
13.06. Conclusion
Bibliography
IV. Children and Families
14. Juvenile Delinquency
14.01. Introduction
14.02. The Rise and Fall of the “Therapeutic” Juvenile Court
14.03. The Nature of the Juvenile Process
14.04. The Mental Health Professional’s Role in Juvenile Court
14.05. The Nature of the Evaluation
14.06. Specific Areas of Treatment Evaluations
14.07. Special Juvenile Populations
14.08. Do the Mental Health and Juvenile Systems Belong Together?
Bibliography
15. Child Abuse and Neglect
15.01. The Nature of Abuse and Neglect Proceedings
15.02. Legal Definitions of Child Maltreatment
15.03. Child Maltreatment as a Clinical Phenomenon
15.04. Clinicians’ Involvement in the Legal Process
15.05. Special Populations
15.06. The Technique of Abuse/Neglect Evaluations
15.07. Adult Cases Related to Abuse and Neglect
16. Child Custody in Divorce
16.01. The Scope of Clinicians’ Involvement in Custody Disputes
16.02. Standards for Resolution of Custody Disputes
16.03. What Do We Know?
16.04. The Technique of Custody Evaluations
16.05. The Politics of Divorce
Bibliography
17. Education and Habilitation
17.01. Introduction
17.02. The Impetus for the IDEA
17.03. The Structure of the IDEA
17.04. Clinical Evaluation under the Act
Bibliography
V. Communicating with the Courts
18. Consultation, Report Writing, and Expert Testimony
18.01. Introduction
18.02. Preliminary Consultations
18.03. Data Collection, Maintenance, and Disclosure
18.04. Preliminary Report of Findings
18.05. Report Writing
18.06. Expert Testimony and the Social Psychology of Persuasion
18.07. The Ultimate-Issue Issue
Bibliography
19. Sample Reports
19.01. Introduction
19.02. Competence to Proceed [Chapters 6 and 14]
19.03. Competence to Plead and Waive Rights [Chapter 7]
19.04. Mental State at the Time of the Offense [Chapter 8]
19.05. Sentencing [Chapter 9]
19.06. Civil Commitment [Chapter 10]
19.07. Competence to Handle Finances [Chapter 11]
19.08. Workers’ Compensation for Mental Injury [Chapter 12]
19.09. Reasonable Accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act [Chapter 13]
19.10. Consultative Examination for Social Security [Chapter 13]
19.11. Immigration Status [Chapter 13]
19.12. Transfer to Adult Court [Chapter 14]
19.13. Dispositional Review [Chapter 15]
19.14. Custody [Chapter 16]
19.15. Evaluation under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [Chapter 17]
20. Glossary
20.01. Legal Terms
20.02. Clinical and Research Terms
Notes
Index