law

Question 1

What are some role of psychologists in the legal system?

Answer 1

psychological evaluation in child protction matters; evaluation for child custody in divorce proceedings; civil commitment determination; protecting client rights; profiling criminals; assessing dangerousness; filing amicus briefs; aiding jury selectionl determining competency to stand trial; determining repressed, recovered, or false memories

Question 2

define criminal commitment

Answer 2

the legal process of confining a person found not guilty by reason of insanity in a mental institution

Question 3

What is the insanity defense?

Answer 3

when defendant admits he or she committed a crime but argue that they are not guilty or held responsible for their behavior at the time of the crime beacuse they were mentally disturbed aka NGRI PLEA = NOT GUILTY BY REASON OF INSANITY

Question 4

part of the criminal commitment

what is the M’Naghten rule

Answer 4

(Right-wrong test), did know what they were doing at the crime bc of mental disturbance (presense of mental illness or disorder) OR didn’t know what they were doing was wrong bc of mental disturbance.

Question 5

part of the criminal commitment

What is the Durham rule? and what are its problems?

Answer 5

not responsible if behavior is the product of mental illness or defect
-problems: person could know behavior is a crime and still be found not guilty. Relies too heavy on expertise of mental health professionals; tends to confuse things more or you get “dueling shrinks”. Term product is to vague

Question 6

part of the criminal commitment

What is the Ali rule?

Answer 6

(substantial capacity test) not responsible if behavior result of mental disease or defect AND person either doesn’t understand that it’s a crime or they can’t confirm their behavior to the law bc of mental disease/defect
-does not include antisocial conduct or repeated criminal activity

Question 7

define civil commitment

Answer 7

legal process of placing a person in a mental institution, even against his or her will. person in involuntrily confined to mental insitution until state feels person is able to care for him or herself, wont be danger to self or others. criteria varies from state to state. clear and imminent danger to self or others.

Question 8

part of the criminal commitment

define federal insanity defense reform ACT (IDRA)

Answer 8

part of the comprehensive crime control act of 1984. only people who have severe mental illness can use insanity defense. burden of proof shifted from prosection (prove sanity beyond a reasonable doubt) to defense (prove insanity by clear and convincing evidence) curbs scope of expert testimony. ability of defendant to control him/herself not considered

Question 9

What is diminished capacity?

Answer 9

used in defense in crimes that require that the defendant act with a particular state of mind (premeditation, deliberation, and the specific intent to kill). can use diminished capacity defense if there is sufficient evidence to create a reasonable doubt as to whether the defendant possessed the capacity to premeitate, deliberate or form the specific intent to kill beacuse of mental illness. does not mean that the defendant is entitled to an acquittal. the defendant still might be convicted of lesser charge (second degree murder)

Question 10

Define guilty but mentally ill

Answer 10

states that person is guilty of crime but acknowledges they have mental illness. insures held responsible for behavior but also get treatment (if you recover form the disorder, you still serve out your sentence)

Question 11

why is competency to stand trial important?

Answer 11

mental state at time of evaluation after arrest and before trial. competent if: have ability to communicate a choice, have factual understanding of the proceedings. have rational understanding of the proceedings; understand the nature of the situation and possible consequences. can assist in your own defense. in the past, abused to keep people institutionalized indefinitely. jackson v. indiana: people have right to due process; can’t confine people indefinitely

Question 12

How often are insanity defense used? how successful are they?

Answer 12

Used in less than 1% of cases. most likely to be successful if: person has significant/severe disorder. a female defendant. violent crime is not murder, prior history of poor mental health, particularly prior hospitalizations

Question 13

explain the mental health and drug treatment courts

Answer 13

generally, deals with nonviolent offenders who are diagnosed with mental illness and/or co-occuring substances abuse problems. established to reduce recidivism and link individuals to services. usually requires individuals to enter guilty plea in lieu of sentencing. mental health court require person to remain in treatment; use case management to centralize coordination of treatment and social service needs. preliminary studies suggest that these court reduce recidivism.

Question 14

what is kendra’s law

Answer 14

forced medication if they are deemed unable to make sound decisions

Question 15

why is assessing dangerousness difficult in civil commitment?

Answer 15

hard to predict rare behaviors; suicide and homicides are relatively rare. violence depends a lot on context, not just person’s character or even state of mind. BEST PREDICTOR OF FUTURE DANGEROUSNESS IS PAST DANGEROUSNESS. hard to define dangerouss (MHP tend to overprict dangerousness- false positive)

Question 16

why is it hard to get people to commit themselves?

Answer 16

try to get people to voluntarily commit themselves because so hard to do it involuntarily.
involuntary: family member, physician, (etc. petition court for evaluation) judge decided if evaluation should be done. if yes, appoints two independent mhp to do evaluation. formal hearing where experts testify about mental state of person and dangeroursness. some argue that involuntary commitment violates civil rights of others and benefits those petitioning for the commitment, not the person who is “mentally ill”

Question 17

why is the M’Naughten rule criticized?

Answer 17

criticized bc hard to prove what someone knew or understood at the time of the criminal act. too much focus on cognitive understanding and doesn’t take into account volition and emotions

Question 18

what are the problems of civil commitment?

Answer 18

unable to care for self and no support system, unable to make responsible desicision about treatment and hospitalization, person is an unmanageable state of fright or panic. have the right to contest involuntary commitment, have legal representation. if it is an emergency, con involuntarily commit, usually for 72 hours (usually bc considered to be danger to self or others). if you are involuntarily committed, you have right to refuse treatment.