Chapter 15 Issues in contemporary psychology

Question 1

Define forensic psychology/psychiatry.

Answer 1

A field of psychology where clinical understanding is applied to the law and criminal cases. They get additional legal and forensic training.

Question 2

Describe potential roles a forensic psychologist might have.

Answer 2

1. threat assessment for schools,
2. child custody evaluations,
3. competency evaluations of criminal defendants and of the elderly,
4. counseling services to victims of crime,
5. death notification procedures,
6. screening and selection of law enforcement applicants,
7. the assessment of post-traumatic stress disorder
8. designing treatment programs for criminal offenders.

Question 3

Define civil commitment.

Answer 3

The government acts like a parent and commits a person to a mental institute much in the way a parent would commit a child

Question 4

Identify criteria for civil commitment.

Answer 4

1. the individual must present a clear danger to either themselves or others
2. the individual demonstrates that they are unable to care for themself or make decisions about whether treatment or hospitalization is necessary.
3. the individual believes they are about to lose control, and so, needs treatment or care in a mental health facility

Question 5

Describe dangerousness.

Answer 5

A person is likely to be of harm to themselves or others
Despite being overly reported on in the news with mass shootings, the truth is the mentally ill don’t commit a ton of crime, only 4% of crime is attributed to mental illness. However the mentally ill are 3 times as likely to be a target

Prediction of a person’s dangerousness is difficult for three reasons
1. Vague definition of dangerousness
2. past criminal activity is a good predictor of future dangerousness but is often not admissible in court
3. context is critical. Different situations provoke different responses that vary upon the individual

Question 6

Outline procedures in civil commitment.

Answer 6

1. A judge and a variety of individuals from family members to mental health professionals request a court order to examine a persons care needs and whether commitment may be needed
2. A formal hearing is arranged, testimonies are heard and the judge reaches a verdict
3. If the judge decides on commitment, the time is decided and sentence served
   Note: There is some legal issues with this as there is no crime needed to eb committed and no need for innocent before proven guilty

Question 7

Define criminal commitment.

Answer 7

When people are accused of crimes but found to be mentally unstable, they are usually sent to a mental health institution for treatment

Question 8

Define NGRI.

Answer 8

Not guilty by reason of insanity or the insanity plea which is when they acknowledge they are guilty of the crime but plead they were mentally ill

Question 9

Describe pivotal rules/acts/etc. in relation to the concept of insanity.

Answer 9

M’Naghten rule, Irresistible impulse test, Durham test, products test, American Law Standard (ALI), Federal Insanity Defense Reform Act (IDRA)

Question 10

M’Naghten rule

Answer 10

states that having a mental disorder at the time of a crime does not mean the person was insane. The individual also had to be unable to know right from wrong or comprehend the act as wrong. But how do you know what the person’s level of awareness was when the crime was committed?

Question 11

Irresistible impulse test

Answer 11

Focused on persons inability to control their behaviors. However its hard to establish if a person is in control or not

Question 12

Durham test

Answer 12

Short lived rule that the person was not mentally responsible if the crime was a product of their mental illness but it was too flexible

Question 13

American Law Standard

Answer 13

people are not criminally responsible for their actions if, at the time of their crime, they had a mental disorder or defect that did not allow them to distinguish right from wrong and to obey the law. Thought the John Hinkley’s shooting of Regan made this problematic when he was found not guilty by reason of insanity

Question 14

Federal Insanity Defense Reform Act (IDRA)

Answer 14

Federal legislation on the insanity defense. Did the following
1. modified the standard for insanity
2. placed the burden of proof of insanity on the defendant
3. limited the scope of expert testimony
4. eliminated the defense of diminished capacity, created a special verdict of “not guilty only by reason of insanity,”
5. provided for federal commitment of persons who become insane after having been found guilty or while serving a federal prison sentence.

Question 15

Define GBMI.

Answer 15

Guilty but mentally ill, effectively acknowledging that the person did have a mental disorder when committing a crime, but the illness was not responsible for the crime itself. The jurors can then convict the accused and suggest they receive treatment.

Question 16

Clarify what it means to be competent to stand trial.

Answer 16

To be deemed competent, federal law dictates that the defendant must have a rational and factual understanding of the proceedings and be able to rationally consult with counsel when presenting their defense

Question 17

Contrast the insanity plea with the concept of being competent to stand trial.

Answer 17

Insanity plea is assumed the person does not have full comprehension or is too mentally ill. Competent to stand trial assumes that the person is fully aware of the situation

Question 18

Describe rights patients with mental illness have and identify key court cases.

Answer 18

1. Right to treatment (Rouse V. Cameron, Wyatt v. Stickney, O’Connor v. Donaldson),
2. Right to Refuse Treatment (Riggins v. Nevada),
3. Right to Less Restrictive Treatment (Dixon V. Weinberger),
4. Right to Live in a Community (Staff V. Miller)

Question 19

Right to Treatment details

Answer 19

Right to treatment is a constitutional right (Rouse V Cameron)
People committed to mental institutions were required to have adequate treatment and therapists (Wyatt v. Stickney)
patient’s cases had to be reviewed periodically to see if they could be released. As well, if they are not a danger and are able to survive on their own (O’Connor v. Donaldson)

Question 20

Right to Refuse Treatment details

Answer 20

Patients have the right to refuse treatment. Very Simple

Question 21

Right to Less restrictive Treatment details

Answer 21

People have rights to less restrictive facilities than mental institutions and only patients can be committed if they can’t care for themselves

Question 22

Right to Live in a Community details

Answer 22

mental hospital patients have the right to live in adult homes in their communities

Question 23

Describe three concerns related to the therapist-client relationship.

Answer 23

Confidentiality, Privileged Communication and Duty to Warn

Question 24

Define Confidentiality

Answer 24

guarantees that information about you is not disseminated without your consent.

Question 25

Define Privileged Communication

Answer 25

confidential communications cannot be disseminated without the patient’s permission. There are a few exceptions to this which include the client being younger than 16, when they are a dependent elderly person and a victim of a crime, or when the patient is a danger to him or herself or others, to name a few

Note: This is the Legal rule. The right to confidentiality is the ethical rule

Question 26

Define Duty to Warn

Answer 26

In the 1976 Tarasoff v. the Board of Regents of the University of California ruling, the California Supreme Court said that a patient’s right to confidentiality ends when there is a danger to the public. Tatiana Tarasoff, a student at UC, was stabbed to death by graduate student, Prosenjit Poddar in 1969, when she rejected his romantic overtures.

Note: As defined in a later case, the confidentiality cannot be broken if the threat is non-specific