Forensic Psych Exam 3

1. Define civil commitment.
2. What is Parens Patriae?
3. What is police power?
4. Describe the change in hospitalization rates from the early 1900’s to today. What two factors
drove this change?
5. What are the two universal criteria for civil commitment?
6. What is the labeling effect?
7. What did Rosenhan’s Being Sane in Insane Places study demonstrate?
8. What kind of protections does a patient have in extended commitment hearings?
9. How restrictive must be the setting in which a committed individual is treated?
10. Why are risk assessments (assessments of dangerousness) difficult to complete when
evaluating for commitment?
11. What is a grave disability? Who is most likely to be committed for grave disability?
12. Describe extended civil commitment.
13. Describe emergency commitment.
14. Describe the emergency commitment process in Ohio. How long can someone be held on
emergency commitment?
15. Which is easiest to assess: dangerousness to others, suicide risk, or the presence of grave
disability? Why?
16. Are the majority of mentally ill individuals competent to make their own medical decisions?
17. As discussed in class, how is gender associated with suicide risk?
18. What is capacity for suicide and what does it help explain?
CHAPTER 8: CRIMINAL AND CIVIL COMPETENCIES
1. Why is it important for us to make sure defendants are competent to stand trial?
2. What are the three prongs of the Dusky competency standard? Describe each.
3. What are the criteria for competency to stand trial (CST) in Ohio, and how do they compare
to the Dusky standard?
4. In a CST evaluation, what is typically assessed that is not a part of the Dusky prongs?
5. What percentage of referred defendants are deemed incompetent to stand trial?
6. Who typically raises the issue of competency to stand trial?
7. What is the importance of Jackson v. Indiana (1972) for competency to stand trial outcomes?
8. What is the longest that someone can be committed for competency restoration in Ohio?
9. Approximately what percentage of individuals evaluated for competency to stand trial are
malingering?
10. What does research suggest regarding the quality of standard practices for conducting
competency evaluations?
11. What are the most common diagnoses among defendants found incompetent to stand trial?
12. What is competency restoration?
13. Approximately what percentage of defendants are restored to competency?

14. Identify the common diagnoses of defendants who cannot be restored to competency.
15. What does research suggest regarding the effectiveness of different competency restoration
treatments?
16. What type of competency evaluations are most psychologists wary of conducting? Why?
17. Under which conditions can a mental health provider act without informed consent?
CHAPTER 9: INSANITY, CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY, AND DIMINISHED
CAPACITY
1. Why do we have an insanity defense?
2. What are the key differences between competency and insanity evaluations?
3. What was the first insanity standard (that dominated English law)?
4. What are the three prongs of the M’Naghten standard?
5. How many states do not have an insanity standard?
6. What is the most commonly used standard for insanity?
7. Describe the Ohio standard for insanity. What are the prongs of the Ohio standard?
8. How is the Ohio insanity standard the same as, or different than, the M’Naghten or ALI
standards?
9. What event prompted the Insanity Reform Act?
10. Identify the two outcomes of the Insanity Reform Act.
11. What percentage of cases use the insanity defense?
12. What percentage of insanity defenses result in acquittal?
13. What are the common misconceptions regarding insanity acquittals?
14. What factors make insanity evaluations difficult?
15. Why is third-party information so important in insanity evaluations?
16. How often do judges and juries agree with expert opinions in insanity defenses? What
criticism of forensic psychology does this contribute to?
17. True or False: The majority of insanity acquittees are malingering a mental illness or
neuropsychological impairment.
18. What is a diminished capacity defense?