Forensic mental health assessment (FMHA) has grown into a specialization informed by research and professional guidelines. This series presents up-to-date information on the most important and frequently conducted forms of FMHA. The 19 topical volumes address best approaches to practice for particular types of evaluation in the criminal, civil, and juvenile/family areas. Each volume contains a thorough discussion of the relevant legal and psychological concepts, followed by a step-by-step description of the assessment process from preparing for the evaluation to writing the report and testifying in court. Volumes include the following helpful features: - Boxes that zero in on important information for use in evaluations - Tips for best practice and cautions against common pitfalls - Highlighting of relevant case law and statutes - Separate list of assessment tools for easy reference - Helpful glossary of key terms for the particular topic In making recommendations for best practice, authors consider empirical support, legal relevance, and consistency with ethical and professional standards. These volumes offer invaluable guidance for anyone involved in conducting or using forensic evaluations. This book considers those legal, ethical and assessment issues that arise when forensic mental health professionals are asked to evaluate an individual's capacity to waive his or her Miranda rights, and the subsequent validity of the confession.

This innovative book provides both the conceptual framework and clinical methods needed to appropriately handle problems that arise in the administration of Miranda warnings and waivers. Largely overlooked for decades, Miranda rights have been compromised in multiple ways, and in millions of cases. For example, each year, thousands of adult arrestees with intellectual disabilities or severe mental disorders waive their rights with markedly impaired Miranda understanding and reasoning. This also applies to thousands of developmentally immature juvenile detainees, who are often provided with complex warnings far beyond their comprehension levels. Addressing this continued crisis, Conducting Miranda Evaluations presents balanced and empirically based guidelines for conducting forensic assessments and communicating their empirical conclusions to the legal community. This book provides psychologists, and related professionals with the essential forensic and legal knowledge for carrying out evaluations of both Miranda comprehension and waiver-relevant reasoning.

Providing an excellent resource for forensic psychology undergraduate students, this book offers students the opportunity to learn from experts, through the collection of outstanding articles. Unlike other books in the area that are topic specific, it also gives them comprehensive coverage of the subject. Divided into five broad topic areas, it covers:professional issuesjuvenile assessmentcriminal forensic assessmentcivil forensic assessmentpervasive issues - malingering and psychopathy. Written by a group of internationally renowned contributors and including didactic information as well as pro.

The rich case material in this unique book provides readers with an in-depth understanding of a wide variety of forensic psychology topics through the perspective of the psychologist working with these individuals. In this absorbing and illustrative volume, experienced forensic psychologists explain the specialized field's intersection between psychology and the justice system. It documents psychologists' interviews with involved parties, the law research they conduct, and their testimony in court on issues that include competency to stand trial, Miranda evaluations, defendants' sanity, sentencing, the death penalty, and violence and risk assessments, as well as on cases regarding family matters such as child custody, child protection, and parental rights. Offering firsthand testimonials from some of the best-known and most practiced professionals in the nation, the contributors not only explain the work but also offer comprehensive case studies that will enable students as well as readers who are not specialists in psychology to fully understand core concepts and appreciate the complexities and subtleties of the field. Inside Forensic Psychology is intended for undergraduate students and graduate students studying forensic psychology or entering into a forensic psychology concentration/specialization. As an instructional text, the book serves professors as a single resource that houses varied forensic clinical case vignettes incorporating the clinical thinking of the psychologist. The rich case material will serve to excite critical thinking in students, assist instructors in expanding upon their lectures, and provide invigorating, intriguing material for lay readers.

Forensic mental health assessment (FMHA) continues to develop and expand as a specialization. Since the publication of the First Edition of Forensic Mental Health Assessment: A Casebook over a decade ago, there have been a number of significant changes in the applicable law, ethics, science, and practice that have shaped the conceptual and empirical underpinnings of FMHA. The Second Edition of Forensic Mental Health Assessment is thoroughly updated in light of the developments and changes in the field, while still keeping the unique structure of presenting cases, detailed reports, and specific teaching points on a wide range of topics. Unlike anything else in the literature, it provides genuine (although disguised) case material, so trainees as well as legal and mental health professionals can review how high-quality forensic evaluation reports are written; it features contributions from leading experts in forensic psychology and psychiatry, providing samples of work in their particular areas of specialization; and it discusses case material in the larger context of broad foundational principles and specific teaching points, making it a valuable resource for teaching, training, and continuing education. Now featuring 50 real-world cases, this new edition covers topics including criminal responsibility, sexual offending risk evaluation, federal sentencing, capital sentencing, capacity to consent to treatment, personal injury, harassment and discrimination, guardianship, juvenile commitment, transfer and decertification, response style, expert testimony, evaluations in a military context, and many more. It will be invaluable for anyone involved in assessments for the courts, including psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and attorneys, as well as for FMHA courses.

Clear and accessible in style, this book offers a comprehensive introduction to criminal justice and forensic mental health and the ways in which they intersect. Assuming no prior exposure to the field of criminal forensic psychology, the book reviews ten areas where mental health professionals contribute regularly to the due process of law: comprehension of rights, competency to stand trial, transfer of juveniles to adult court, risk assessment, mitigation, sentencing, sexually violent predators, insanity, and capital punishment of persons with mental illness and with intellectual disability. The book also explores the major categories of mental disorders, how they contribute to criminal behavior, and what problems they present in courts and corrections. Landmark cases from the United States and United Kingdom are also reviewed in detail to develop a thorough understanding of the court’s decision-making process. Bridging the gap between abstraction and practice through its narrative presentation of case material, emphasis on controversy, and illumination of the historical roots of problems and ideas, the book helps the forensic practitioner transition from novice to knowledgeable professional in the courtroom. Drawing on the author’s extensive experience in forensic psychology, this book is the ideal resource for the early-career forensic mental health practitioner, as well as graduate students in forensic mental health and forensic psychology, and mental health professionals seeking to enter the field of forensics.

The first handbook to explore forensic assessment from psychiatric and psychological perspectives "The editors have assembled a magnificent collaboration between psychiatrists and psychologists to bring forth critical knowledge and insight to the core competency of forensic assessment. This handbook is essential reading and a comprehensive resource for both newly minted and seasoned forensic practitioners." —Robert I. Simon, MD, Director, Program in Psychiatry and Law, Georgetown University School of Medicine "This long-awaited resource blows the dust off traditional standards, shakes the cobwebs out of our old ways of thinking, and shows the practical steps in producing work that will make sense to juries and withstand the most skillful cross-examination. . . . [T]here is no better resource." —Kenneth S. Pope, PhD, ABPP, Diplomate in Clinical Psychology; coauthor, Ethics in Psychotherapy and Counseling, Fourth Edition "From preparation to collection to interpretation to communication of the results, this excellent, comprehensive treasure shows how to conduct forensic assessments. Each splendid evidence-based chapter is presented from the collaboration between psychologists and psychiatrists. It is a must-have resource for forensic experts as well as general practitioners or anyone wishing to understand standard of care in forensic assessment." —Melba Vasquez, PhD, ABPP, 2011 American Psychological Association President The practitioner-oriented coverage in the Handbook of Forensic Assessment examines: The current state of psychology and psychiatry—including requisite clinical competencies, ethical guidelines, and considerations of multidisciplinary collaboration Various approaches to assessments in criminal and civil matters The principles of effective preparation, data collection, and interpretation, as well as communication for each special situation Topics including competence to stand trial, sexual offender evaluations, addictions, child abuse, and education Overarching practice issues, such as practice development, retention, compensation, consultation, and forensic treatment Includes sample reports that demonstrate the integrative potential of both psychology and psychiatry Incorporating a wealth of current and multidisciplinary research, the Handbook of Forensic Assessment is destined to become every mental health professional's most valuable one-stop reference for their forensic work.

Featuring ten new articles by experts in the field, this up-to-date reader emphasizes the ways that forensic psychologists apply psychological knowledge, concepts, and principles on a day-to-day basis. Drawing on cutting-edge research to demonstrate the ways that forensic psychology has contributed to the understanding of criminal behavior and crime prevention, the Third Edition addresses key topics in each of the five major subareas of the field—police psychology, legal psychology, the psychology of crime and delinquency, victimology and victim services, and correctional psychology.