forensic final exam

Who was the first person to be subjected to involuntary civil confinement under Kansas’ SVP Law

Leroy Hendricks

S-xually Violent Predator Civil Confinement Laws (SVP)

civil confinement for those soon to be released from prison and are likely to commit future acts

pedophile

reoccurring intense s-xual urges for children usually 13 or younger

small percentage of criminals are responsible for…

high percentage of all crimes

why SVP?

police power (states duty to protect citizens) and parens patriae (help citizens who cannot care for themselves)

Kansas v. Hendricks

argued double jeopardy and SVP was unconstitutional (state saw it not as a punishment but treatment)

Megans Law

requires state to make personal info about known sex offenders available to the public

Jacob Wetterling Act

record names of offenders against children in national registry

Adam-Walsh Act

internet based national sex offender database that all can search

criminal justice theater

policies appear to do something about crime, but are ineffective and have unintended negative consquences

example of criminal justice theater on sex offender laws

peeing in public can get you on the sex offender list

what is a widespread belief that encourages SVP laws

sex offenders cannot be treated and will continue to commit crimes

what is the actual rate of reoffense conviction for sex offenders

impossible to actually know because many crimes are unreported

how are sex offender reoffense rates also effected?

who they follow, how long they are followed, and if nonsexual or sexual offenses are included

what type of offenses do sex offenders recommit at a higher rate

nonsexual crimes

double jeopardy

punishment twice

ex post facto

laws criminally punish with a penalty that did not exist when the crime was committed

substantive due process

unreasonably depriving individuals of their right to freedom

Kansas v. Hendricks decision

did not violate double jeopardy, ex post facto in play but did not violate substantive due process

what is the challenge of risk assessment

balancing protecting society and the rights of a possibly dangerous individual

preventive detention

holding someone because they might become violent (ethically problematic)

do the courts uphold the legitimacy of psych evaluations for possible risk assessment

yes, even though they make inaccurate predictions

what percent of the public believe schizophrenics will commit violent acts

60-80%

is schizophrenia a strong predictor of aggressive behavior?

nope

what percent of crimes do severely mentally ill people account for?

3-5%

what percent of mentally ill with drug problems engage in violent acts

33%

what boosts the chances of aggression in the mentally ill

drugs

people with mental illness are more like to be what

victims of crimes

texas death penalty

beyond a reasonable doubt the defendant is a continuous threat

future dangerousness standard

defendant is likely to commit violence that is a continuous threat to society

Barefoot v. Estelle decision

expert testimonies for risk assessment are admissible in capital sentencing despite potential inaccuracy

involuntary civil confinement

placed in psych care against will

deinstitutionalization

decline in mental hospital populations

how can you be involuntary confined

mental health effects functioning and could harm self or others

Tarasoff v. Regents of the Uni of California

therapists have the duty to protect clients and potential victims of their client

Ewing v. Goldstein

info provided by a family member of an adult client can also trigger duty to protect

how does civil confinement differ from criminal confinement

standard of proof, length of confinement, reason

civil confinement vs. criminal confinement: standard of proof

civil = lesser clear convincing evidence, criminal = beyond a reasonable doubt

civil confinement vs. criminal confinement: length of confinement

civil = continued indefinitely, criminal = specified

civil confinement vs. criminal confinement: reason

civil = what they might do, criminal = charged for what they have done

what percent of inmates might have anti-social personality disorder

70%

criteria for SVP

offended, mentally ill that lacks control, likely to reoffend

Crane v. Kansas decision

under SVP, individuals suffer from mental illness, pose a future threat, and have difficulty controlling urges can be committed

why is predicting violent behavior important?

if you can predict, you can prevent

risk assessment: true positive

predict violence, is violent

risk assessment: true negative

predict nonviolent, is nonviolent

risk assessment: false positive

predict violence, isnt violent

risk assessment: false negative

predict nonviolent, is violent

are mental health professionals good at predicting violent behavior

no, high false positive rate

how can they target the correct people in risk assessment

maximizing true positives and minimizing false negatives

how can they avoid treating the wrong people in risk assessment

maximize true negatives and minimize false positives

unstructured clinical judgment: idiographic qualitative approach

focus on specific individuals and relies on subjective judgements of clinicians

what are clinicians unaware of when they predict

base rates, so they over predict

how are base rates lowered in risk assessment

those likely to reoffend are not released so they base rates are lower than expected

actuarial prediction

requires relevant predictions (built on the past) to be systematically combined to calculate an estimate of future violence

actuarial prediction: nomothetic quantitative approach

based on characteristics identified in research on large groups of people and on stat analysis of data (uses formulas)

concerns about actuarial prediction

generalizability

historical markers

static, past behavior, history of the person such as drug use, conflict in relationships

what is the strongest marker for predicting violent behavior and most variable

historical marker

what does VRAG rely on

historical markers

dynamic markers

changeable, could be responsive to treatment such as mood,

what is a major factor in dynamic markers

lack of insight into self (violent people lack awareness)

risk management markers

stable supportive environment lower the risk of violence (family, housing, jobs)

structured professional judgment instrument

combine accuracy of actuarial methods and the flexibility of clinical decision making

historical clinical risk management scheme

list of 20 items, mostly historical, flexible and needs clinician decision

jurors reaction to clinical testimonies

clinical testimonies have a great impact on jurors ratings of dangerousness than actuarial (they are more likely to believe a psychologist) , and they are more relevant to the case

treatments to reduce violence

stable enviro, programs for social skills, medication, therapy, monitoring, reassessments

why should be used to help predict complex human behavior

personality and situations

challenges to predicting behavior

complex humans, lack of feedback, base rates

which assessment is intuitive and qualitative

clinical

what assessment is objective and quantitative

actuarial

which is better actuarial or clinicial

actuarial

Leli and Filskov: results

clinicians given the results of the actuarial method improved

why is actuarial better?

reliability, validity, less cognitive bias

SPJ and actuarial difference

is smaller than the difference between actuarial and unstructured PJ

clinical override problem

clinician improving the actuarial design

ceiling effect

limitation in ability to predict human behavior

violence risk appraisal guide (VRAG)

actuarial approach to predict recidivism, historical, only for men

Level of Service Inventory (LSI)

actuarial risk of recidivism and nonsexual violence, static and dynamic

static 2002 R

predict sexual recidivism in adult males who have committed sexual offenses, historical markers

HCR - 20

clinical assessment, historical

spousal assault risk assessment

historical and dynamic

psychopathy

one of the better predictors of criminal behavior and recidivism

PCL-K

anti-social scale with 20 items, structured interview, and review of info GOLDEN STANDARD

psychopathy: under arousal hypothesis

autonomic nervous system is chronically under reactive to the environment so they seek arousal

Lykken psychopath study: results

psychopaths do not learn to anticipate shock and they did not avoid (aversive conditioning)

psychopaths: amygdala

psychopaths show decreased activity during emotional processing

psychopaths: prefrontal and limbic

difficulties with emotional and social tasks, less pain reaction

where do the differences in psychopaths come from

enviro, damage, genes, but overall vague

viding et al: results

half of variance is genetic, non shared environmental effects had more of a difference

sentencing decisions vary…

from state to state

how do they decide sentencing decisions

severity of crime and attributes of criminal

controllability

if the behavior seems to be under control of the person

stability

whether cause of behavior seems to be temp or stable

internal behaviors evoke…

anger and stronger punishments

external behaviors evoke…

sympathy and lenient sentencing

indeterminate sentencing

set by judge within limits, release date is determined by parole based on behavior

criticism for indeterminate sentencing

not equal sentencing

who gets longer sentences

black, hispanic, and young men

females get ____ for the same crime

shorter sentences