Forensic Psychology pt 2

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sexual violence

A sexual act committed against someone without their consent

• Not a legal term, but encompasses behaviors that are considered crimes (e.g., rape, nonconsenual touching)

What must be proven for conviction of rape & SA

force and lack of consent

Statutory rape

two people, one person is below the age of consent and the one is over the majority age of consent

You are a psychologist and receive a court order to release the records for your patient. You have the right to ignore this order, with grounds.

false

You are a psychologist and receive a subpoena for your records. You have the option to object to this subpoena, with grounds.

true

According to Murrie et al., approximately how many defendants are found not competent to stand trial when assessed?

50%

New York State law that permits courts to require individuals who are not compliant with medication to participate in outpatient mental health assistance and treatment programs.

Kendra’s Law

Grave disability

an individual has marked limitations in the ability to take care of him or herself.

Situations in which pleas of insanity are entered account for about how many of all felony criminal cases.

1-3 %

Some states in the US do not recognize NGRI as an acceptable defense in a criminal trial.

true

It is not advisable for a forensic psychologist to include a diagnosis in their report of competency.

true

In forensic psychology, a dual purpose evaluation would most often be an evaluation of a defendant's

competency and criminal responsibility

While driving to work one morning, Keller is replying to a text on his phone when he accidentally runs another driver off the road. This accident results in damage to both cars and serious injuries to the other driver. In this case, Keller's culpability for the crime is likely categorized as which of the following?

Recklessness

The World Health Organization has estimated that approximately for how many women worldwide will be affected by IPV at some point in their lives.

34%

Which of the following is especially important to data collection when working in the juvenile justice system, but may not be as central (or as possible) to working within the adult system?

naturalistic observation

A juvenile can be tried in juvenile court and subsequently (afterwards) in adult court for the same crime.

false

Sell v. US

hospitalized defendants who are found incompetent to stand trial can be forced medicated

Lake v. Cameron

individual should have access to treatment in the least restrictive environment (LRE) appropriate to their treatment needs

Collaterals

third-party information sources (people or documents) used to verify, contradict, or expand upon information provided by an evaluee

Dusky Standard

Two prongs - being able to understand the charges against them and the ability to assist their attorney in preparation of their defense

PRESENT and CURRENT ABILITY

Adjudicative competence

Dusky Standard plus acknowledgment that competency goes beyond the trial alone (like waiving Miranda rights and pleading guilty)

• understanding the vocab along with the case

Paraphilic Disorders

Persistent, intense sexual interests that deviate from typical sexual patterns and is affecting them in their daily lives

The Paraphiliac mental disorder with the thoughts, urges and fantasies are not criminal but behavior would make it criminal.

What are the demographics of sex offenders

• 44% are younger than 21

• 99.9% are male

Child sex offenders

• generally less violent

• often repeat offenders

what is rapist typology

there are six variables that play an important role in the behavioral, thought, and emotional patterns of rapists and child sex offenders

What are the Rapist Typology variables

1. Aggression,

2. Impulsivity,

3. Social incompetence,

4. Sexual fantasies,

5. Sadism,

6. Naive cognitions or beliefs

Rapist Typology: Aggression

gaining victim compliance, degradation/abuse of victim

Rapist Typology: Impulsivity

also a predictor of recidivism

Rapist Typology: Social (in)competence

limited interpersonal skills, especially with opposite sex

Rapist Typology: Sexual Fantasies

• sometimes considered a pre requisite to sexual violence

• not every person with sexual fantasies with become sexually violent

Rapist Typology: Sadism

finds cruel acts enjoyable/pleasurable

Rapist Typology: Native cognitions or beliefs

“women are suppose to be permissive and compliant” or “men should dominate those around them”

Acquaintance “date” rape

• 80% of all rapes

• between two people who know each other (doesn’t have to be well known)

Opportunistic Rapist

sexual assault because the opportunity presents itself (sees the victim as a sexual object rather than a human being)

Pervasively Angry Rapist

generally angry individual who perpetrates sexual (often injurious) violence

• inflicts physical harm

Sexually motivated: Sadist

sexual assault to satisfy a personal paraphilia (e.g., sadism, fetishism)

Sexually motivated: Nonsadist

sexual assault due to sexual arousal by specific stimuli in the intended victim

• ex. look like someone they used to date or attractiveness

CSO

Child Sex Offenders

Pedophilia

Sexual attraction only to children (DSM)

• Could be married to an adult

• less than 1% of general population

Child pornography

livestreaming of child sexual abuse, possession of child pornographic materials

What is a Forensic Psychologist’s Involvement with Sexual Offenders

• Sentencing

• Recidivism risk assessment

• Treatment

  • will they respond to treament

• Expert Witness

The assessment of sexual offenders is…

Focused on measurement of sexual deviance, underlying psychological characteristics, and static/dynamic recidivism risk factors

Phallometric Assessment

assessment of sexual preference/recidivism risk

• Reliable discrimination between rapists and nonrapists

• Strongest predictor of sexual recidivism

• Admissibility limitations in US

Registration Laws and Notification

sexual offenders are required to register with local law enforcement in all 50 states

Residency Laws

rules around where an offender can live

Sexual Violent Predator Laws (SVP)

identification and civil commitment of offenders

Civil Commitment

“Involuntary hospitalization” or “mandated treatment”

• They are not checking themselves into the institution

Parens patriae

the government is obligated to act on behalf of people who cannot care for themselves (mentally ill, minors, elderly)

What is the criterion for civil commitment

mental illness, dangerousness(must be related to mental disorder)/grave disability, need for treatment

competency vacillation

trouble discerning whether they are in a bad state

Advance directives

keeping up with medication

Kendra’s Law

Allows for court orders requiring certain individuals with serious mental illness to receive/maintain outpatient treatment to prevent relapse/deterioration/harm to self or others

AOT

Assisted Outpatient Treatment can be court ordered

CST

Competency to stand trial

Competency

Can the defendant..

• Understand the charges against them?

• Communicate effectively and rationally with their lawyer? To assist in their own defense?

• Are they able to do things right now.

• focusing on their current function

What is used for competency evals

• Clinical interviews

• Psychological and neuropsychological testing

• Record reviews

• Interviews with family and/or treatment providers

Why are Competency Evaluations so Common?

A defendant’s competence can be in question at many stages throughout the criminal process

• If there is any suspicion of incompetence, an evaluation is generally sought by defense or prosecution to avoid having a ruling dismissed on questions of competency

• Multiple competency evals of same defendant…for different crimes

When could competency evals happen

• Pretrial

• Referrals to eval for CST

• Request from any officer of the court

• Court-ordered evals

Private, self-pay defence evaluations

don't have to give the report to the court

Subpoena

court document asking for things

• Don’t have to provide it because it is a breach in confidentiality.

Court Order

cant really get around it, can be redacted though

Competency Assessment Measures

typically use intelligence and personality measures rather than FAI

Competency Screening Test (CST)

sentence completion test

Evaluation of Competency to Stand Trial-Revised (ECST-R)

interview based instrument focused on the Dusky Standard

What is the Competency Crisis

Exponential increase in demand for competency evals/restoration services

• Demand outweighs available clinicians

  • Wait times for eval and restoration (defendants in limbo)

  • Risk of burnout for forensic evaluators

Criminal Responsibility (CR)

Legal accountability for a crime

Mens Rea

The intention and knowledge of wrongdoing (not the criminal behavior itself)

• Mens rea is required at the time a criminal act was committed for a person to be considered truly guilty of a crime

When is Mens Rea not relevant

diminished capacity, children under 7 and strict liability laws

What is Mental Culpability

the levels of accountability

1. Intent

2. Knowledge

3. Recklessness

4. Negligence

Intent

conscious objective to commit a criminal act

• Harm is the primary goal (foresight and desire)

Knowledge

may not intend to inflict harm, but has awareness that the behavior could result in harm

• Harm may not be the primary goal, but there is a general understanding that the behavior will almost certainly cause harm

Recklessness

conscious decision to disregard risks associated with behaving criminally

• May not have a desire to cause harm, but does have a knowledge that what they’re doing could be harmful

Negligence

failure to meet reasonable standards of behavior (rarely a criminal charge)

What are Components of a Typical CR Report after Evaluation

• Current mental status

• Formal mental status exam

• Mx

• Substance use

• Mental health records

What are the limitations of CR/Sanity evals

• The construct of “insanity” is undefined and nebulous

• Rely on third-party information

  • Not reliable information, own perspective is skewed

• Effectiveness is not strong because every clinician has their own way of approach the CR evaluations

• Allegiance bias

Insanity

At the time of the crime, the defendant could not differentiate between right and wrong and/or did not understand the nature of his/her/their act

• fully negates mens rea

What does an ngri mean

A legal plea entered by the defense; burden of proof is on the defense to prove insanity

diminished capacity

Mental impairments that limit formation of specific intent

• cognitive impairment

• severe emotional distress

• intoxication

Family violence

any assault (or other crime) that results in injury or death of one or more household members by another person living in the same home

Intimate partner violence (IPV)

Violence (physical, psychological, sexual) between current or former spouses, partners, or significant others

• includes stalking

What are motivations for IPV: Men

establish and maintain control over partner

What are motivations for IPV: Women

self-defense, anticipation of violence, retaliation for violence perpetrated against them

What are the effects of IPV

• PTSD

• Depression

• Lower self-esteem

• Substance use/abuse

What are the 9 stages of IPV

1. Love Bombing

2. Location of Victim

3. Victim adjustment to attention/jealousy/controlling displays

4. Excessive control (through psychological/emotional abuse)

5. First incident of physical abuse

6. Abuse occurs again (blaming of victim)

7. Isolation of the victim

8. Emotional conflict/confusion for victim

9. Increased use of psychological threats/physical force to maintain dominance

What are characteristics of IPV Perpetration

• Anger/hostility (and its expression)

• Substance use/abuse

• Depression

• Jealousy, need for control

• Relationship dissatisfaction

what are the core features of BWS

• Learned Helplessness

• Survive vs. escape skills

• low self-esteem

• depressive symptoms

What is the stage cycle of violence for BWS - has to happen at least twice

1. Tension building phase

2. Acute battering incident phase

   1. the abuse

3. Honeymoon/apologize phase

What are the limitations of BWS

Gendered approach

Construct is not well-defined

Possibly irrelevant to legal issues

Risk of stigma to/stereotyping of victims

What are the difference between SS-IPV and OS-IPV

• Discrimination

  • systemic issues

  • being outed

• more often turn to friends, relatives because authorities don’t help

What are barriers to leaving

• Financial

• Health/safety

• Isolation

• Fear

• Custody concerns

• Culture

• Family pressure

• Hope

Protective orders and/or mandatory arrests

A version of a restraining order against an intimate partner

• Mandatory arrest - during domestic abuse they have to arrest someone at least one and sometimes both. They arrest someone because if they just leave the violence could escalate.

What do forensic psychologist do with IPV

• Risk assessment of batterers (pretrial, sentencing, bail, correctional release)

• Expert witness in criminal or civil trial

• Crisis intervention and/or tx consultation

• Evaluation of victim for PTSD (or, sometimes, BWS)

Stalking

A course of conduct directed at a specific person that involves repeated physical or visual proximity, non-consensual communication, or verbal, written, or implied threats sufficient to cause fear in a reasonable person

What are motives for stalking

control and intimidation

Stalkers: Simply obsessional

• 65% of stalkers

• current or past relationship with victim

Stalkers: Love Obsessional

• 25% of stalkers

• stranger/acquaintance to victim

Stalker: Erotomanic

• 5%

• delusional beliefs about an idealized relationship with the victim

Cyberstalking

Persistent behaviors that create fear via

• Email

• Text messaging

• Social media

• Unsolicited email is the most common form of harassment

Cyberstalking is an attempt at…

• Initiate a relationship

• Repair a relationship

• Threaten/traumatize a person