Week 10 - Forensic Assessment Flashcards
Forensic assessment has contributed to which of the following areas
prediction of aggression
custody evaluation
malingering
Compared to other witnesses in a court case, an expert witness
may provide factual information as well as offer an opinion
The word ‘forensic’ means
of or used in connection with courts of law
Which of the following is not a setting that forensic psychologists work? Police departments Law courts Forensic science laboratories Correction centres
forensic science laboratories
According to the APA, the purpose of forensic assessment in custody evaluation is to
assist in determining the psychological best interest of the child
The two methods of risk assessment/prediction are
clinical-psychological and actuarial
The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised is an example of a _____ assessment instrument
forensically-related
The person(s) served by forensic assessment include
the client, the lawyer and the court
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - Second Edition is an example of a primarily _______ assessment instrument
clinical
The primary purpose of forensic psychological testing and assessment is
to assist those who work in the legal and criminal justice system to make decisions
In forensic assessment, the response style of a client is
not assumed to be reliable
What are limitations of forensic assessment?
small sample size used in validation studies
susceptibility to faking of self-report instruments used
low reliability and validity
NOT time required to complete assessment
The standards being considered in forensic assessment include psychiatric, psychological and
legal
According to Ogloff and Douglas, the results of forensic assessment are needed if they are found by the court to be
relevant and related to one or more legal standards raised by a case
Before the recognition of forensic psychology as a specialty area of psychology
psychologists had been asked to appear in courts as expert witness
In forensic assessment
the psychologist and client do not always share the same purpose
According to Heilbrun, Roger and Otto, the three types of assessment instruments used in forensic assessments are
forensic, forensically related and clinical
Forensic assessment has contributed to which areas?
custody evaluation
prediction of aggression
malingering
The person(s) served by forensic assessment include
the client, the lawyer and the court
Compared to a therapeutic assessment report, a forensic assessment report is
longer, more comprehensive and more detailed
What is criminal law concerned with?
crimes against the public or the Crown
What is civil law concerned with?
the resolution of conflicts between individuals or organisations
What is family law concerned with?
conflicts within families or between partners in married or de facto relationships
What is the primary purpose of forensic assessment?
to assist decision makers in the legal or criminal justice systems to address specific legal issues
What is the primary purpose of therapeutic assessment
to diagnose and treat clients with psychological or mental problems
The choice of an assessment technique needs to be considered in light of ______
relevant legal standards
What are forensic assessment instruments designed for?
specifically designed for forensic assessment and these instruments are directly relevant to a specific legal standard
i.e. MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool
What are forensically relevant instruments designed for?
is not designed to a specific legal standard but the constructs measured by these instruments are related to a legal standard
i.e. tests that measure constructs such as psychopathy, violence risk or malingering
What are clinical instruments designed for?
psychological tests or techniques that are not developed specifically for the purpose of forensic assessment bu have been adopted by forensic psychologists to answer legal questions
i.e. MMPI, WAIS, BDI
What does competency to stand trial mean?
an assessment of whether a defendant is able to stand trial because his/her mental state was affected at the time of the offence or at the time of the trial
What is the Competency Screening Test?
a screening device used to decide if a more comprehensive assessment is necessary for defendants who may be unfit to stand trial
Why has the Competency Screening Test been criticised?
on the grounds that the sentence completion procedure and scoring method are not well justified, the construct(s) it assesses may not be directly related to the legal standard of competency to stand trial, and it leads to relatively high false positive
What is the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool - Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT-CA)?
It was developed based on Bonnie’s theory of legal competency and comprises 22 items that are related to the formal functional abilities associated with the legal construct of competency to stand trial
What three discrete competence scales are in the MacCAT-CA?
understanding, reasoning and appreciation
What are the two methods of risk assessment?
one based on clinical-psychological judgment and one based on an acturial formula
What do clinical-psychological methods of risk assessment rely on?
the knowledge and experience of professionals to inform risk classifications, utilising techniques and instruments common with clinical psychological practice
What are acturial methods of risk assessment based on?
psychometric tools that are statistically developed by identifying those factors in the research literature that are most strongly correlated with the offending behaviour in question
What do acturial risk assessment scales generally consist of?
checklists of predictor variables that are statistically scored for offenders, with higher scores generally representing a greater risk of recidivism
What is the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised Second Edition (PCL-R)?
It was developed by Robert Hare to assess psychopathic personality disorders in adult forensic populations
Why has the PCL-R been considered the ‘gold standard’ in predicting violence and recidivism
because it has been found to have very good psychometric properties
What is a custody evaluation?
to assist in determining the psychological best interest of the child
What is a common instrument used in the USA and Canada for custody evaluation?
The Ackerman-Schoendorf Scales of Parent Evaluation of Custody
What is malingering?
the attempt to exaggerate symptoms or claim symptoms one does not have
What is the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms?
it was designed to detect malingering and other forms of feigning of psychological symptoms in adults 18 years and over. It focuses on deliberate distortions in self-presentation
What is one of the most common symptoms associated with malingering?
memory impairment
What did Tombaugh develop?
the Test of Memory Malingering - it aims to detect response bias, intentional faking and exaggeration of symptoms by showing a test taker 50 line drawings of ordinary objects and then asking him/her, after a delay, to recognise the target among a choice of two drawins
What is the STATIC-99 used for?
Risk assessment tool for adult male sexual offenders
