Forensic Mental Health Assessment

This practical and comprehensive casebook illustrates principles of forensic assessment using relevant real-world case material. The author's report and commentary provide "teaching points" that are built around actual case reports from expert forensic psychologists and psychiatrists. Including 43 cases in 23 chapters, this volume examines a broad range of civil, criminal, and family legal questions. Topics include Miranda rights waiver, competence to act as one's own attorney, competence to stand trial, juvenile commitment, sanity at the time of the offense, child custody, termination of parental rights, guardianship, and malpractice. This book will be of interest to the growing number of clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and other mental health professionals who are entering the courts to conduct forensic assessments.

Readership: Psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, attorneys, judges.

Kirk Heilbrun, Professor and Chair in the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Hahnemann University, Geoffrey Marczyk, Predoctoral Fellow, Psychology Section, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, and David DeMatteo, Predoctoral Clinical Psychology Intern, Medical College of Virginia

1: Introduction and Overview
2: Miranda Rights Waiver
3: Competence to Act as One's Own Attorney
4: Competence to Stand Trial
5: Competence to Be Sentenced
6: Competence to Be Executed
7: Criminal Sentencing
8: Juvenile Commitment
9: Juvenile Competence to Stand Trial
10: Juvenile Waiver and Reverse Waiver
11: Sanity at the Time of the Offense
12: Mens Rea and Diminished Capacity
13: Sex Offender Sentencing
14: Release Decision-Making
15: Child Custody
16: Termination of Parental Rights
17: Civil Commitment
18: Civil Psychological Injury
19: Competence to Consent to Treatment
20: Guardianship
21: Malpractice
22: Worker's Compensation
23: Treat/Risk Assessment
24: Malingering