Forensic Psychology

Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii 1 What Is Forensic Psychology? An Introduction 1 What Is Forensic Psychology? 1 Is this forensic psychology? 1 The origin of forensic psychology 3 Our definition of forensic psychology 3 History of forensic psychology 4 Major Areas of Forensic Psychology 5 Structure of the legal system 7 The Relationship of the Law and Psychology 9 The conflict between psychology and law 10 Education and Training in Forensic Psychology 10 How do I become a forensic psychologist? 10 Careers in forensic psychology 14 2 Assessment, Treatment, and Consultation in Forensic Psychology 16 Forensic Assessment 16 Important tasks in forensic assessment 17 Core concepts in assessment: Reliability and validity 18 Distinguishing therapeutic assessment from forensic assessment 18 Methods and procedures: Interviewing 19 Methods and procedures: Psychological testing 22 Archival information 25 The use of written reports in forensic assessments and guidelines 26 Treatment in Forensic Contexts 28 Who are we treating? 29 Types of treatment 31 Success of offender programs 31 Successful offender programs 32 Forensic Consultation 33 3 Expert Testimony and the Role of an Expert 36 History of the Expert Witness 37 Admissibility of Expert Testimony 38 Frye standard 38 The rest of the Daubert trilogy 41 Challenges to Expert Testimony 42 Cross- examination 42 Opposing expert 42 Judicial instructions 42 Factors that influence expert witness credibility 43 Criticisms of Expert Testimony 44 Taking over the courtroom 44 Ultimate issue testimony 44 Corruption of science 45 Bias in Human Decision- Making and Forensic Practice 47 Ethics of the Expert 48 Competence 49 Informed consent and confidentiality 50 Financial arrangements 50 Multiple relationships 51 Syndrome Evidence: Controversial Area of Expert Testimony 51 Profile and syndrome evidence 51 4 Psychopathy 55 The Nature of the Psychopath 55 A popular operationalization of psychopathy: The Psychopathy Checklist 56 Use of the PCL- R in the practice of forensic psychology: Field research 60 The Relationship of Criminal Behavior and Violence to Psychopathy 61 General violence and criminal behavior 61 Sexual violence 63 Violence in civil psychiatric patients 63 Violence among intimate partner violence perpetrators 64 What Else Do We Know about Psychopathy? 64 Interpersonal- affective aspects of psychopathy 64 Cognitive and learning deficits (information processing) associated with psychopathy 66 Biological basis for psychopathy 67 Treatment of psychopathy 68 Special Groups and Psychopathy 69 Women 69 Ethnic and cross- cultural issues 71 Children and adolescents 71 Legal and Ethical Issues Involving Psychopathy 72 Capital sentencing and the use of psychopathy 73 5 Violence Risk Assessment 75 Nature of Violence and Violence Risk Assessment 75 Defining violence 75 Violence as a choice 76 Legal Realities of Violence Risk Assessments 77 The Evolution of Risk Assessment 79 Early history of risk assessment 79 Clinical, Actuarial, and Structured Risk Assessments 80 Clinical assessments of violence 80 Actuarial measures of violence 81 Structured professional judgments 84 Risk and Protective Factors 86 Static risk factors 87 Dynamic risk factors 87 Protective factors 89 Accuracy of Risk Assessment 89 Difficulties in risk assessment 90 When are we good at assessing risk? 90 Communicating Risk 91 6 Sexual Offenders 93 What Is a Sexual Offender? 93 Assessment of Sexual Offenders 95 Indirect or physiological measures of sexual deviance 96 Phallometric assessment: Penile plethysmograph (PPG) 96 Alternative indirect and physiological measures 97 Psychological assessment 98 Risk assessment and recidivism 99 Risk assessment instruments for sexual offenders 101 Use of sex offender risk assessment measures in the field 102 Treatment and Management of Sexual Offenders 103 Are sexual offender treatment programs successful? 104 Components of potentially successful programs 105 Special Groups of Sexual Offenders 106 Female sexual offenders 106 Clergy as sexual offenders 108 Online child pornography offenders 108 Sexual Offender Legislation 109 Registration and notification laws 109 Residency laws 111 Sexually violent predator laws 111 7 Civil Commitment 114 What Is Civil Commitment? 114 Criteria for Civil Commitment 117 Mental illness 117 Dangerousness 117 Need for treatment 119 Process of civil commitment 119 Outpatient commitment 120 Empirical examination of outpatient commitment and other changes in commitment laws 121 Coercion of Civil Commitments 122 The impact of coercion on civil commitment 123 Sources and frequency of coercion 124 Right to Make Treatment Decisions and Refuse Treatment 125 Competency to make treatment decisions 125 Psychiatric advanced directives (PAD) 126 Practice of Civil Commitment 126 Assessment and treatment of committed patients 127 Assessment of danger to self 127 Assessment of danger to others 128 Risk factors for commitment 129 8 Criminal and Civil Competence 130 Raising the Issue of Competency in Criminal Proceedings 131 Competency to Stand Trial (CST) 131 Prevalence of CST 131 Procedures in CST 132 Competency evaluations 133 Forensic assessment instruments for competency 135 Other Variables Related to Competence 138 Scope of practice in competency evaluations 139 Restoration of Competency 140 Competency restoration programs 141 Other Criminal Competencies 144 Competency to be executed 144 Competency to waive Miranda rights 144 Competency to refuse the insanity defense 145 Civil Competencies 145 Competency to be treated 146 Competency to execute a will 146 Competency related to guardianship 147 9 Insanity, Criminal Responsibility, and Diminished Capacity 148 The Rationale for Insanity Defense 150 Insanity Standards 151 Wild beast standard 151 The product rule and Durham 153 American law institute (ALI) rule, model penal code, and Brawner 154 Insanity Defense Reform Act (1984) 154 Guilty but mentally ill 155 Challenges to the insanity defense 156 Studies Assessing the Insanity Standards in Mock Jurors 156 Insanity Myths 157 Evaluations of Insanity 161 Common procedures for insanity evaluations 161 Reliability and validity of insanity evaluations 162 Outcomes of Insanity Evaluations 163 Forensic assessment instruments 164 Malingering and insanity 164 Other Issues of Criminal Responsibility and Diminished Capacity 165 10 Intimate Partner Violence and Stalking 168 Defining and Identifying the Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence 169 Factors that influence prevalence figures 169 Assessment of Intimate Partner Violence among Intimate Partners 170 Assessing consequences of intimate partner violence 171 Psychological consequences of intimate partner violence 172 Risk Factors and Risk Assessment in Intimate Partner Violence 173 Risk factors for intimate partner violence 173 Assessing risk and recidivism 177 Intimate Partner Violence Treatment 178 Educational and psychological treatment 179 Community- based interventions 181 Criminal justice interventions 181 Sexual Orientation and Gender Differences in the Perpetration of Intimate Partner Violence 182 Stalking 183 11 Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice 188 History of the Juvenile Court 189 Processing in the Juvenile Courts 191 Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Offenses 192 Risk factors for juvenile delinquency 193 Juvenile Violence 194 Risk factors for nonsexual violence 195 Risk factors for sexual violence 196 Role of the Forensic Psychologist in Juvenile Courts 197 Evaluating treatment amenability 197 Providing treatment 198 Transfer evaluations 199 Competency evaluations 200 Insanity evaluations 201 Risk assessment 201 Special Issues Regarding Juveniles: School Violence 203 School violence and mass school shootings 203 12 Child Custody 206 Legal History and Assumptions about Child Custody 207 Legal standards and preferences for child custody 207 Additional legal preferences 209 Child Custody Laws and Professional Guidelines 209 Professional guidelines for child custody evaluations 210 Forensic Practice in Child Custody Evaluations 211 Format and methods utilized in child custody evaluations 211 Surveys of clinical practice and psychological testing 213 Difficulties in child custody evaluations 216 Effects of Custody and Divorce on Children 217 Effects of divorce on children 217 Impact of custodial arrangement 219 Positive post- divorce outcomes 219 Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence 220 13 Personal Injury and Discrimination in Civil Law 223 Legal Bases for Personal Injury Cases: Torts and Civil Law 224 General Forensic Practice in Personal Injury Cases 225 Malingering in personal injury cases 226 Typical Injuries Involved in Personal Injury Claims 227 Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 228 Traumatic brain injury (TBI) 229 Chronic pain 231 Common sources of bias 233 Psychological Independent Medical Evaluation 233 Workers’ Compensation 234 Sexual Harassment and Employment Discrimination 236 Glossary G- 1 References R- 1 Name Index I- 1 Subject Index I- 9  Preface ix   Acknowledgments xiii   1 What Is Forensic Psychology? An Introduction 1   What Is Forensic Psychology? 1   Is this forensic psychology? 1   The origin of forensic psychology 3   Our definition of forensic psychology 3   History of forensic psychology 4   Major Areas of Forensic Psychology 5   Structure of the legal system 7   The Relationship of the Law and Psychology 9   The conflict between psychology and law 10   Education and Training in Forensic Psychology 10   How do I become a forensic psychologist? 10   Careers in forensic psychology 14   2 Assessment, Treatment, and Consultation in Forensic Psychology 16   Forensic Assessment 16   Important tasks in forensic assessment 17   Core concepts in assessment: Reliability and validity 18   Distinguishing therapeutic assessment from forensic assessment 18   Methods and procedures: Interviewing 19   Methods and procedures: Psychological testing 22   Archival information 25   The use of written reports in forensic assessments and guidelines 26   Treatment in Forensic Contexts 28   Who are we treating? 29   Types of treatment 31   Success of offender programs 31   Successful offender programs 32   Forensic Consultation 33   3 Expert Testimony and the Role of an Expert 36   History of the Expert Witness 37   Admissibility of Expert Testimony 38   Frye standard 38   The rest of the Daubert trilogy 41   Challenges to Expert Testimony 42   Cross- examination 42   Opposing expert 42   Judicial instructions 42   Factors that influence expert witness credibility 43   Criticisms of Expert Testimony 44   Taking over the courtroom 44   Ultimate issue testimony 44   Corruption of science 45   Bias in Human Decision- Making and Forensic Practice 47   Ethics of the Expert 48   Competence 49   Informed consent and confidentiality 50   Financial arrangements 50   Multiple relationships 51   Syndrome Evidence: Controversial Area of Expert Testimony 51   Profile and syndrome evidence 51   4 Psychopathy 55   The Nature of the Psychopath 55   A popular operationalization of psychopathy: The Psychopathy Checklist 56   Use of the PCL- R in the practice of forensic psychology: Field research 60   The Relationship of Criminal Behavior and Violence to Psychopathy 61   General violence and criminal behavior 61   Sexual violence 63   Violence in civil psychiatric patients 63   Violence among intimate partner violence perpetrators 64   What Else Do We Know about Psychopathy? 64   Interpersonal- affective aspects of psychopathy 64   Cognitive and learning deficits (information processing) associated with psychopathy 66   Biological basis for psychopathy 67   Treatment of psychopathy 68   Special Groups and Psychopathy 69   Women 69   Ethnic and cross- cultural issues 71   Children and adolescents 71   Legal and Ethical Issues Involving Psychopathy 72   Capital sentencing and the use of psychopathy 73   5 Violence Risk Assessment 75   Nature of Violence and Violence Risk Assessment 75   Defining violence 75   Violence as a choice 76   Legal Realities of Violence Risk Assessments 77   The Evolution of Risk Assessment 79   Early history of risk assessment 79   Clinical, Actuarial, and Structured Risk Assessments 80   Clinical assessments of violence 80   Actuarial measures of violence 81   Structured professional judgments 84   Risk and Protective Factors 86   Static risk factors 87   Dynamic risk factors 87   Protective factors 89   Accuracy of Risk Assessment 89   Difficulties in risk assessment 90   When are we good at assessing risk? 90   Communicating Risk 91   6 Sexual Offenders 93   What Is a Sexual Offender? 93   Assessment of Sexual Offenders 95   Indirect or physiological measures of sexual deviance 96   Phallometric assessment: Penile plethysmograph (PPG) 96   Alternative indirect and physiological measures 97   Psychological assessment 98   Risk assessment and recidivism 99   Risk assessment instruments for sexual offenders 101   Use of sex offender risk assessment measures in the field 102   Treatment and Management of Sexual Offenders 103   Are sexual offender treatment programs successful? 104   Components of potentially successful programs 105   Special Groups of Sexual Offenders 106   Female sexual offenders 106   Clergy as sexual offenders 108   Online child pornography offenders 108   Sexual Offender Legislation 109   Registration and notification laws 109   Residency laws 111   Sexually violent predator laws 111   7 Civil Commitment 114   What Is Civil Commitment? 114   Criteria for Civil Commitment 117   Mental illness 117   Dangerousness 117   Need for treatment 119   Process of civil commitment 119   Outpatient commitment 120   Empirical examination of outpatient commitment and other changes in commitment laws 121   Coercion of Civil Commitments 122   The impact of coercion on civil commitment 123   Sources and frequency of coercion 124   Right to Make Treatment Decisions and Refuse Treatment 125   Competency to make treatment decisions 125   Psychiatric advanced directives (PAD) 126   Practice of Civil Commitment 126   Assessment and treatment of committed patients 127   Assessment of danger to self 127   Assessment of danger to others 128   Risk factors for commitment 129   8 Criminal and Civil Competence 130   Raising the Issue of Competency in Criminal Proceedings 131   Competency to Stand Trial (CST) 131   Prevalence of CST 131   Procedures in CST 132   Competency evaluations 133   Forensic assessment instruments for competency 135   Other Variables Related to Competence 138   Scope of practice in competency evaluations 139   Restoration of Competency 140   Competency restoration programs 141   Other Criminal Competencies 144   Competency to be executed 144   Competency to waive Miranda rights 144   Competency to refuse the insanity defense 145   Civil Competencies 145   Competency to be treated 146   Competency to execute a will 146   Competency related to guardianship 147   9 Insanity, Criminal Responsibility, and Diminished Capacity 148   The Rationale for Insanity Defense 150   Insanity Standards 151   Wild beast standard 151   The product rule and Durham 153   American law institute (ALI) rule, model penal code, and Brawner 154   Insanity Defense Reform Act (1984) 154   Guilty but mentally ill 155   Challenges to the insanity defense 156   Studies Assessing the Insanity Standards in Mock Jurors 156   Insanity Myths 157   Evaluations of Insanity 161   Common procedures for insanity evaluations 161   Reliability and validity of insanity evaluations 162   Outcomes of Insanity Evaluations 163   Forensic assessment instruments 164   Malingering and insanity 164   Other Issues of Criminal Responsibility and Diminished Capacity 165   10 Intimate Partner Violence and Stalking 168   Defining and Identifying the Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence 169   Factors that influence prevalence figures 169   Assessment of Intimate Partner Violence among Intimate Partners 170   Assessing consequences of intimate partner violence 171   Psychological consequences of intimate partner violence 172   Risk Factors and Risk Assessment in Intimate Partner Violence 173   Risk factors for intimate partner violence 173   Assessing risk and recidivism 177   Intimate Partner Violence Treatment 178   Educational and psychological treatment 179   Community- based interventions 181   Criminal justice interventions 181   Sexual Orientation and Gender Differences in the Perpetration of Intimate Partner Violence 182   Stalking 183   11 Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice 188   History of the Juvenile Court 189   Processing in the Juvenile Courts 191   Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Offenses 192   Risk factors for juvenile delinquency 193   Juvenile Violence 194   Risk factors for nonsexual violence 195   Risk factors for sexual violence 196   Role of the Forensic Psychologist in Juvenile Courts 197   Evaluating treatment amenability 197   Providing treatment 198   Transfer evaluations 199   Competency evaluations 200   Insanity evaluations 201   Risk assessment 201   Special Issues Regarding Juveniles: School Violence 203   School violence and mass school shootings 203   12 Child Custody 206   Legal History and Assumptions about Child Custody 207   Legal standards and preferences for child custody 207   Additional legal preferences 209   Child Custody Laws and Professional Guidelines 209   Professional guidelines for child custody evaluations 210   Forensic Practice in Child Custody Evaluations 211   Format and methods utilized in child custody evaluations 211   Surveys of clinical practice and psychological testing 213   Difficulties in child custody evaluations 216   Effects of Custody and Divorce on Children 217   Effects of divorce on children 217   Impact of custodial arrangement 219   Positive post- divorce outcomes 219   Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence 220   13 Personal Injury and Discrimination in Civil Law 223   Legal Bases for Personal Injury Cases: Torts and Civil Law 224   General Forensic Practice in Personal Injury Cases 225   Malingering in personal injury cases 226   Typical Injuries Involved in Personal Injury Claims 227   Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 228   Traumatic brain injury (TBI) 229   Chronic pain 231   Common sources of bias 233   Psychological Independent Medical Evaluation 233   Workers’ Compensation 234   Sexual Harassment and Employment Discrimination 236   Glossary G- 1   References R- 1   Name Index I- 1   Subject Index I- 9