Psychologists can be of considerable assistance in legal proceedings in which the past, current, and/or future decision-making capacity of an individual is in dispute. The many challenges ...psychologists face when called on to assess persons' decision-making capacity in civil proceedings are discussed, and recommendations for changes in the law and practice are offered.
This study explores the intricate relationship between cognitive functioning and aggression, with a specific focus on individuals prone to reactive or proactive aggression. The purpose of the study ...was to identify important neuropsychological constructs and suitable tests for comprehending and addressing aggression.
An international panel of 32 forensic neuropsychology experts participated in this three-round Delphi study consisting of iterative online questionnaires. The experts rated the importance of constructs based on the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework. Subsequently, they suggested tests that can be used to assess these constructs and rated their suitability.
The panel identified the RDoC domains Negative Valence Systems, Social Processes, Cognitive Systems and Positive Valence Systems as most important in understanding aggression. Notably, the results underscore the significance of Positive Valence Systems in proactive aggression and Negative Valence Systems in reactive aggression. The panel suggested a diverse array of 223 different tests, although they noted that not every RDoC construct can be effectively measured through a neuropsychological test. The added value of a multimodal assessment strategy is discussed.
This research advances our understanding of the RDoC constructs related to aggression and provides valuable insights for assessment strategies. Rather than suggesting a fixed set of tests, our study takes a flexible approach by presenting a top-3 list for each construct. This approach allows for tailored assessment to meet specific clinical or research needs. An important limitation is the predominantly Dutch composition of the expert panel, despite extensive efforts to diversify.
How objective are forensic experts when they are retained by one of the opposing sides in an adversarial legal proceeding? Despite long-standing concerns from within the legal system, little is known ...about whether experts can provide opinions unbiased by the side that retained them. In this experiment, we paid 108 forensic psychologists and psychiatrists to review the same offender case files, but deceived some to believe that they were consulting for the defense and some to believe that they were consulting for the prosecution. Participants scored each offender on two commonly used, well-researched risk-assessment instruments. Those who believed they were working for the prosecution tended to assign higher risk scores to offenders, whereas those who believed they were working for the defense tended to assign lower risk scores to the same offenders; the effect sizes (d) ranged up to 0.85. The results provide strong evidence of an allegiance effect among some forensic experts in adversarial legal proceedings.
This paper is based on the one of the author’s diploma thesis defended at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in 2019. The main objective is to present forensic ...psychology research, especially the research focused on the perception of justice in legally regulated decision-making procedures. Due to the absence of domestic sources, the main attention is focused on foreign research. Finally, it is the ambition of the presented paper to contribute to the professional discussion on the relevant topic within the Czech psychological community. The empirical part presents the newly developed Questionnaire of Perceived Justice in Mediation (DVSM), it’s creating stages and limitations. Also, another research activity of the authors is presented, in which the limitation of DVSM are addressed.
Due process of law involves matters of fundamental fairness to litigants in civil and criminal proceedings. Due process rights include the opportunity to develop, obtain, inspect, present, and ...challenge evidence in legal proceedings. Psychologists' opinions often depend upon information that is sensitive and should not be publicly disclosed in a manner that would undercut the utility of psychological tests. There have been strident discussion and policy statements opposing nonpsychologists' access to sensitive test information by providing them with copies of test materials or by video recording examinations that include psychological tests. Notably absent from these statements has been any discussion of the legal system's demand for due process and its corresponding requirement for access to facts and data, including opinion testimony of experts. We argue that the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct and the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology are congruent with due process requirements for reasonable judicial scrutiny and adequate discovery by all parties, and we believe that a judge's protective order is an acceptable remedy for the disclosure of sensitive test information in a litigated matter.
Public Significance Statement
Our article argues that when psychology operates within the legal system, it is important for psychologists to recognize that the manner in which they attempt to resolve the ethical problems of their own profession can impact the constitutional rights of civil litigants and criminal defendants.
This meta‐analysis examined whether psychological treatments with adult violent offenders in correctional and forensic mental health settings are effective in preventing community recidivism and ...institutional (hospital/prison) misconduct. A total of 27 controlled studies containing 7,062 violent offenders were obtained via a comprehensive search strategy that yielded more than 13,000 records. Overall, treatments with violent offenders significantly reduced violent and general/nonviolent recidivism. The average effect for violent and general/nonviolent institutional misconduct did not attain statistical significance. Moderator analyses indicated numerous trends; however, most effects were nonsignificant following alpha‐level corrections. Findings regarding the impact of psychological treatments are promising and suggest that multimodal treatments are associated with the strongest treatment effects. However, the extant evidence base is limited by a small number of well‐controlled outcome studies and inconsistent/incomplete reporting of the evaluations. More high‐quality research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of violent offender treatment on outcomes and mechanisms of action, and to determine which treatment components are effective, in what combination, and for which offenders.
•Measuring psychopathy in schizophrenia is not the same as in other samples.•Schizophrenia and psychopathy only share superficial clinical manifestations.•The CAPP-IRS has a good and intelligible ...overlap with clinical functioning.•The PCL-R is better a predicting risk and is more of a life-time measure.
The assessment of psychopathy in (forensic) schizophrenia spectrum disorders is long-standing debate. In the present study, we investigated the psychometric properties of the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality-Institutional Rating Scale (CAPP-IRS) in a sample of 72 male forensic patients with a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. We compared the CAPP-IRS’ psychometric properties to those of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). The CAPP-IRS showed good interrater reliability and internal consistency except for the CAPP-IRS Cognition and Emotional Domains. There appears to be a larger but intelligible overlap between the CAPP-IRS and schizophrenia symptoms than between the PCL-R and schizophrenia symptoms. Inversely, the PCL-R showed overall stronger associations with risk assessment measures. We conclude that, in (forensic) schizophrenia disorder spectrum patients, the CAPP-IRS has closer associations with clinical features, while the PCL-R is better a predicting risk and life-time dimensions.
Whether it is a question of the age below which a child cannot be held liable for their actions, or the attribution of responsibility to defendants with mental illnesses, mental incapacity is a ...central concern for legal actors, policy makers, and legislators when it comes to crime and justice. Understanding the terrain of mental incapacity in criminal law is notoriously difficult; it involves tracing overlapping and interlocking legal doctrines, current and past practices including those of evidence and proof, and also medical and social understanding of mental order and incapacity. Bringing together previously disparate discussions on criminal responsibility from law, psychology, and philosophy, this book provides a close study of mental incapacity defences, analysing their development through historical cases to the modern era. It maps the shifting boundaries between normality and abnormality as constructed in law, arguing that ‘manifest madness’ — the distinct character of mental incapacity revealed by this interdisciplinary approach — has a broad significance for understanding the criminal law as a whole.
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