Of related interest . . . PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT —Theodore H. Blau This unique training guide/reference was written in response to the ever-growing demand for psychological services in law enforcement agencies. Written by one of the nation's most respected experts in forensic psychology, it offers psychologists now working in law enforcement agencies and those interested in entering the field, a detailed overview of the many functions psychologists serve within those agencies. Organized by sections corresponding to the major functions psychologists perform—assessment, intervention, consultation, and training—the book deals with all issues that psychologists working in law enforcement will encounter in their practice, including officer recruitment, fitness-for-duty evaluations, stress counseling, drug and alcohol counseling, hostage negotiations, investigative hypnosis, management consultation, and much more. 1994 (0-471-55950-4) 454 pp. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE CHILD —Theodore H. Blau Over twenty-five years in the making and the result of examinations of over four thousand children, this book is a comprehensive guide to performing psychological examinations on children. Covering virtually every aspect of the examination procedure, it offers specific recommendations and step-by-step guidelines to everything from office decor, requisite equipment, test selection, rating categories, and techniques for minimizing stress to administering tests, writing reports, and making recommendations. Closely following Dr. Blau's famous Basic Psychological Examination package, the book guides readers in their assessment of environmental pressure, behavioral responses, intellectual factors, neuropsychological status, response capabilities, academic achievement, and personality. 1991 (0-471-63559-6) 279 pp. THE PSYCHOLOGIST AS EXPERT WITNESS —Theodore H. Blau This very practical guide arms mental health professionals with everything they need to serve comfortably and effectively as expert witnesses. With the help of numerous real-life examples, excerpts from transcripts, sample forms, checklists, and legal documents, it shows you how to: prepare for your day in court; avoid being manipulated by attorneys; write up depositions and psychological and technical reports; and much more. And, as the use of mental health professionals as expert witnesses continues to extend beyond traditional judicial applications, the author addresses a wide range of untraditional situations and types of cases in which readers may be called upon to serve, including cases of liability and personal injury, eyewitness identification research, trademark and patent litigation, and others. 1984 (0-471-87129-X) 424 pp. PSYCHIATRY AND CRIMINAL CULPABILITY How do we distinguish between sin and sickness? Few cases in recent memory so well typify the current confusion over this question as that of Jeffrey Dahmer. The confessed killer of fifteen young men, Dahmer had sex with and cannibalized his victims' bodies. Yet, because he was not found to be mentally ill—the threshold requirement in tests of legal insanity-—he was convicted and sentenced to 936 years imprisonment. How is it that such a severely disturbed person as Dahmer is adjudged sane and therefore culpable, while "Twinkiedefense" killer, Dan White and would-be presidential assassin John Hinckley, Jr., are deemed not guilty by reason of insanity? What are the origins of tests for criminal responsibility, and how is mental illness defined under them? Can causal links be shown to exist between specific crimes and disorders? Psychiatry and Criminal Culpability explores, in-depth, these questions and many others at the heart of one of the most controversial issues in our criminal justice system today. Throughout, Dr. Ralph Slovenko, an acknowledged expert whose professional experience straddles both the worlds of psychiatry and the law, brings a wealth of scholarship and direct experience to bear on the subject. Citing numerous landmark cases and historical formulations of criminal responsibility dating back to biblical times, he traces the evolution of current legal and psychiatric notions of culpability and the relationship between culpability and insanity. Writing for both a mental health and legal audience, Dr. Slovenko clearly and eloquently addresses a wide range of important topical issues. He explains the distinctions between the defenses of not guilty by reason of insanity, guilty but mentally ill, and diminished capacity. He identifies the types of mental illness that currently qualify under the test of criminal responsibility, including disorders that psychiatrists do not regard as psychotic, but which, nevertheless, many experts assert negate responsibility. He explores the role of the mental health professional as an expert character witness in cases where it is uncertain whether the accused committed the crime in question. And much more. Fascinating, thought-provoking, and enlightening, Psychiatry and Criminal Culpability helps guide mental health and legal professionals through the moral and technical complexities of one of the knottiest issues of our day.
Forensic mental health assessment (FMHA) has grown into a specialization informed by research and professional guidelines. This series presents up-to-date information on the most important and frequently conducted forms of FMHA. The 19 topical volumes address best approaches to practice for particular types of evaluation in the criminal, civil and juvenile/family areas. Each volume contains a thorough discussion of the relevant legal and psychological concepts, followed by a step-by-step description of the assessment process from preparing for the evaluation to writing the report and testifying in court. Volumes include the following helpful features: - Boxes that zero in on important information for use in evaluations - Tips for best practice and cautions against common pitfalls - Highlighting of relevant case law and statutes - Separate list of assessment tools for easy reference - Helpful glossary of key terms for the particular topic In making recommendations for best practice, authos consider empirical support, legal relevance, and consistency with ethical and professional standards. These volumes offer invaluable guidance for anyone involved in conducting or using forensic evaluations.
expands traditional inquiry regarding the significance of psychopathology in the criminal process to include blameworthiness for sentencing, criminal competence at various stages in the process, and dangerousness pairs legal analysis with empirical research in order to promotoe integration of these two aspects of relevant inquiry addresses a wide range of participants in the legal, clinical, and academic disciplines
Since c. 1960 the interplay of psychiatry and law has emerged from an elective seminar to a topic of national prominence. In its breadth and coverage, Ralph Slovenko's Psychiatry and Law/Law in Psychiatry provides a critical exposition of the many practices and basic premises of law and psychiatry. It is a complete text for psychiatry residents or law students and an invaluable reference for practicing professionals in each field. New approaches for practitioners are provided as well as material to assist them in preparing and documenting their cases. Psychiatry and Law/Law in Psychiatry is rooted in Dr. Slovenko's previously published work, Psychiatry and Law (Little & Brown 1973), which received the American Psychiatric Association's prestigious Manfred Guttmacher award.
Forensic psychologists and psychiatrists are increasingly asked to provide expertise to courts and attorneys in the criminal justice system. To do so effectively, they must stay abreast of important advances in the understanding of legal standards as well as new developments in sophisticated measures and the methods for their assessment. Fundamentals of Forensic Practice is designed to address the critical issues that are faced by mental health experts in their role of conducting assessments, presenting findings, and preparing for challenges to admissibility and credibility. Uniquely practical and comprehensive, this volume operationalizes legal standards and describes empirically validated methods for their evaluation. Not only is this essential for mental health professionals, but it is equally valuable to criminal attorneys. Lawyers require both clinical knowledge and understanding of legal standards in order to prepare their own experts and to challenge those on the opposing side. For both clinical and legal experts Fundamentals of Forensic Practice offers a full view of all phases of criminal proceedings: - Pretrial—diversion, determinations of bail, waivers of Miranda rights, and the capacity to consent to searches. - Trial—competency to stand trial and criminal responsibility. Beyond insanity, the latter addresses mens rea, automatism, and psychological context evidence, such as battered-woman syndrome. - Post-trial—sentencing, capital sentencing, competency to be executed, and other post-conviction issues. Other key features include: - Chapters on specific criminal issues in a consistent format, with comprehensive coverage of legal standards and relevant clinical methods - Guidelines for conducting more effective forensic evaluations - In-depth coverage of specialized assessments, eg. malingering, sexual predator cases, and the insanity defense. - A detailed overview of direct and cross-examination strategies This book is the second collaboration between Rogers and Shuman. As individual authors, each received the American Psychiatric Association’s prestigious Guttmacher Award for their outstanding contributions to forensic psychiatry.
The third edition of this award-winning textbook has been revised and thoroughly updated. Building on the success of the previous editions, it continues to address the history and practice of forensic psychiatry, legal regulation of the practice of psychiatry, forensic evaluation and treatment, psychiatry in relation to civil law, criminal law and family law, as well as correctional forensic psychiatry. New chapters address changes in the assessment and treatment of aggression and violence as well as psychological and neuroimaging assessments.
Mental disorders are among the most prevalent of chronic diseases, and high rates of these disorders have been consistently found in jails and prisons. This study was a retrospective case series that described the population of adults charged with a criminal offense who were court ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment within the Medical Legal Service in Santiago, Chile from 2005-2006. Chi-square tests were used to assess differences in the distribution of variables by sex and by criminal responsibility. Exploratory analyses using polytomous logistic regression were conducted in order to assess variables that might be predictive of the outcome of criminal responsibility as recommended by the psychiatrist. Of the evaluated offenders, approximately 84% were considered by a psychiatrist to be criminally responsible for their crime, 7% were regarded as having diminished criminal responsibility, 4% were considered to be not criminally responsible for their crime, and 4% were cases where criminal responsibility was not applicable. The following variables were found to be significant in the exploratory model: sex, age, occupational status, psychiatric pathology, recommendation of treatment, and recommendation of hospitalization. An offender determined by the psychiatrist to have a psychiatric pathology had the highest increase in odds of being considered to have diminished criminal responsibility or of being considered not criminally responsible. Results from this investigation will contribute to international knowledge about forensic psychiatry and mental health in Latin America.
Francesca Biagi-Chai’s book - a translation from the French of Le Cas Landru - tackles the issue of criminal responsibility in the case of serial killers, and other 'mad' people who are nonetheless deemed to be answerable before the law. The author, a Lacanian psychoanalyst and senior psychiatrist in France, with extensive experience working in institutional settings, analyses the logic informing the crimes of famous serial killers. Addressing the Landru case (which was the inspiration for Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux), as well as those of Pierre Rivière and Donato Bilancia, Biagi-Chai casts light on the confusion that pervades forensic psychiatry and criminal law as to the distinction between mental illness and ‘madness’. She then elaborates the consequences of her argument in a sustained critique of the insanity defence. The book includes a Foreword by the renowned psychoanalyst, Jacques-Alain Miller, and an introduction by the translators on the question of insanity before the law in the US and in the UK, which considers the pertinence of Biagi-Chai’s argument for forensic psychiatry, for criminal law, and for the increasing contemporary focus on the assessment of dangerousness and risk-management strategies in crime control practices.
