therapeutic assessment goals, consequences, relationship b/t examiner and examinee
-diagnose an individual-identify intervention and tx recommendations-reduce suffering-caring and supportive relationship-examinee is the client-examinees perspective is heavily relied on-design treatment intervention: consequence
forensic assessment goals, consequences, relationship b/t examiner and examinee
-answer a legal question-means the psychologist must identify the question, and determine whether the psychologist can assist the court-investigate and truth seeking relationship-the client is an individuals who seeks out and pays for service- loss of liberty or financial gain/loss: consequence
Who is the client in a forensic evaluation?
-individual who seeks out for services
validity
to what extent is what we are measuring the thing we actually want to measure
reliability
how consistently does the instrument measure something
secondary gain
a gain or advantage that influences the accuracy of examinees self-report
What are the three types of interviews?
structured, semi-structured, unstructured
over reporting- What are some forensic situations in which one could encounter these?
-feigning or exaggerating problems-done by people to secure drugs or an insanity plea-malingering: intentionally over reporting problems for external gain
underreporting-What are some forensic situations in which one could encounter these?
downplaying, minimizing or denying actual problems -ex: used for people to get leave from a mental health institution
structured interview
-adv: more reliable info, can derive other sorts of info-dis: have limited ability to clarify, maybe can't ask any follow up questions
unstructured interview
-adv: more organic, more fluid approach, flexible-dis: unreliable
Semi-structured interview
There is a list of questions that have been worked out in advance but interviewers are also free to ask follow up questions when they feel it is appropriate-standard but flexible
projective personality tests
techniques that use various ambiguous stimuli that a subject is encouraged to interpret and from which the subject's personality characteristics can be analyzed-harder to fake-questionable in court-***rorschach inkblot test
objective/self-report personality tests
-more structures and direct than projective tests-true or false-rating scales-greater reliability and validity easier to fake
What are potential advantages of projective testing?
-reveal "deepest, most unobservable" psychological characteristics-hards to fake
Why is projective testing controversial?
theres serious concerns relating to their:-reliability-validity-standardization-scoringquestionable if they're admissible in court
Why is IQ important to death penalty decisions?
cruel and unusual to put an intellectually disabled person to death for a crime they have committed( takings v Virginia 2002)
What are the two main types of archival information?
-institutions: medical hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, community mental health centers, prison records, school transcripts, arrest reports-third parties: friend, family member, eyewitness
Why do forensic evaluations rely more heavily on archival information (compared to therapeutic evaluations)?
Because they will be evaluated by the legal system, and eye witness evaluations can help confirm what they think is going on
What is the most frequently used source of information in forensic psychology and in psychology more broadly?
-archival information
What are Melton's four guidelines for writing forensic reports?
-separate facts from inferences-stay within scope of the referral-avoid info over or under-kill-minimize clinical jargon
What are the most frequent faults in reports as identified by Grisso (2010)?
-opinions without sufficient explanations(53%)-forensic purpose unclear(53%)-organizational problems(36%)-irrelevant data or opinions(31%)-failure to consider alternative hypothesis(30%)
What is correctional psychology?
application of clinical psych to prison or correctional setting absent of any direct legal application
Why do correctional settings have such high rates of mental illness?
-criminalization of mentally ill-prison experience-vulnerability of offenders
5 stressors
-extreme noise-heightened temperatures-elevated levels of fear-filth-overcrowding
How often do the mentally ill commit crimes compared to how often the mentally ill are victims of them?
-7% of mental outpatients were arrested -27% of the same outpatients were victimized
What types of disorders do special programs treat?
-sex offender-chemical dependency-personality disorders
What is the most widely-recognized treatment approach in forensic psychology?
risks-needs-responsivity-risks: maximum treatment for those who are greatest for re-offending-needs: criminogenic needs-responsively: providing right treatment at the right level
risks
maximum treatment for those offenders who are at greatest riskier re-offending
(criminogenic) needs
criminogenic needs, which involve the reasons an individual commits a crime
Responsivity
providing the right treatment at the right leve
How effective are generalized treatment programs (i.e., programs aimed at a broad group of patients) in correctional settings?
-if someone has a specific issue, then a generalized program won't really help figure out the issue-risk needs responsivity-don't work well and if they are to work then they really have to specifically help that one problem