Forensic psychology

With its firm establishment as a neuropsychology subspecialty, forensic neuropsychological assessment is integral to many criminal and civil forensic evaluations. In addition to evaluating cognitive deficits, forensic neuropsychologists can provide reliable information regarding symptom magnification, malingering, and other neurocognitive and psychological issues that may impact the outcome of a particular legal case. This article is an overview and introduction to neuropsychological assessment in the forensic mental health context...

The specialized field of forensic psychiatry deals with the care of criminal offenders who suffer from severe mental disorders. As this field is positioned at the intersection of illness, crime, and security, it poses complex challenges. While high-quality clinical studies in forensic psychiatry settings are limited, recent investigations have suggested yoga as a complementary clinical tool within correctional environments. This report of a quasi-experimental study examines the impact of a 10-week trauma-adapted yoga intervention on mental health, antisocial and aggressive behaviors, pain perception, cravings, and character maturity among 56 patients in various forensic psychiatry clinics across Sweden...

Dynamic risk scales have largely been evaluated using singular assessment scores, including those obtained at the start of supervision. While this approach includes assessment of dynamic factors, it ignores changes with reassessment, failing to examine whether an instrument is truly dynamic in nature. This is problematic, as proximal risk assessments have consistently outperformed baseline assessments in the prediction of recidivism. In the current study, we examined the dynamic properties of the Dynamic Risk Assessment for Offender Reentry (DRAOR) in 4,736 adults on community supervision in Iowa, United States ( N  = 33,965 assessments)...

This study investigates the personality traits and motivations of collaborationists with Russian invaders in Ukraine. A focus group of individuals who knew collaborationists personally identified 14 collaborationism motives (CMs), which were used to interview 104 probation clients convicted of collaborationism. The study utilized the five-factor model developed by Costa and McCrae to evaluate individual characteristics. Categorical principal component analysis (CATPCA) reduced the 14 CMs to three dimensions: pragmatism, adaptation, and fear...

OBJECTIVE:  To analyse crime scene data, medical records, and forensic information to unveil insights into the causes and traits of suicides. STUDY DESIGN:  Descriptive study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Family Medicine, Kayseri City Hospital, Kayseri, Turkiye, between January 2020 to December 2021. METHODOLOGY:  A suicide investigation team (doctor, social worker, psychologist) was created to study cases and conduct on-site psychological autopsies...

UNLABELLED: The possible tendency of subjects to decrease, hide, or omit symptomatic aspects of their mental functioning is one of the main problems in forensic psychological and psychiatric evaluations. We aimed at verifying the possible existence of significant differences in the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) scales scores between a sample of dissimulators ( n  = 40) and their non-dissimulator counterpart matched by age, sex, and diagnosis. Cases and comparisons were retrieved from the archive of a single university forensic psychiatric centre between 2013 and 2022...

INTRODUCTION: The competence assessment to give informed consent in the legal and healthcare settings is often performed merely through clinical judgment. Given the acknowledged limited reliability of clinician-based evaluation in the mental health sector, particularly for the assessment of competence to consent, our objective was to ascertain the dependability of clinical judgment when evaluating the ability of schizophrenia patients to make choices about their health. METHODS: The potential convergence between clinical evaluation and scores from a new standardized assessment (the "Evaluation of Informed Consent to Treatment" - "EICT" scale) was therefore tested...

Family interventions that address a diversity of family and parenting factors are often used to prevent juvenile delinquency, but are effective to only a limited extent. This study applied a network approach to risk factors for juvenile delinquency and examined the interrelatedness of specifically family and parenting risk factors in a U.S. and separate Dutch sample of juveniles and their family members. Differences in interrelatedness between these samples were examined as well. Secondary analyses were conducted on data collected in the United States with the Washington State Juvenile Court Assessment (WSJCA) and on data collected in the Netherlands with a Dutch-adapted translation of the WSJCA...

Professionals in the justice system are particularly susceptible to occupational stress and burnout due to factors intrinsic to their profession. The Forensic Professional's Stress Inventory (FPSI) was designed to assess stress and psychological distress specifically in justice system professionals. A preliminary 41-item scale was administered to a sample of 690 forensic professionals (i.e., judges, lawyers, and attorneys). Exploratory factor analysis, exploratory structural equation modeling, and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted to find the most interpretable and parsimonious factor solution for FPSI...

INTRODUCTION: Recent research highlights a high prevalence of minimal cerebral dysfunctions (MCD) in patients with mental disorders. Nonetheless, empirical understanding of minimal cerebral dysfunctions and diffuse neuropsychological impairments in adult patients remains limited. METHOD: In our study, we examined 399 patients with diverse common mental disorders on minimal cerebral dysfunctions. 329 patients were in psychosomatic rehabilitation, 40 in forensic psychiatry, and 30 in an addiction ward of a psychiatric hospital at the time of the study...

This article offers initial validation of the Good Lives Assessment of Domains (GLAD). Data were collected from an electronic survey of 1,484 American adults. Participants were recruited via paid research panels using quotas set to match the U.S. population on Age, Race/Ethnicity, Sex/Gender, Education, and Household Income. Participants responded to a set of items including 48 original items to assess perceptions of life satisfaction in the 11 domains described in the GLM and the 5 Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) items...

Justice-involved adults experience disparities in healthcare access. This pilot study examines healthcare access among young adult probationers ( n  = 66) receiving 6-months of Service Navigation and Health Coaching support implemented between 2017 and 2021. Data are from baseline, 6-month follow-up and satisfaction surveys. Between baseline and follow-up, the proportion of insured young adult participants (66%-88%; p  < .001) and those using healthcare services (36%-71%; p  < ...

BACKGROUND: Acquired brain injury (ABI) is a major health problem, often with negative effects on behaviour and mental health as well as cognition. Prevalence of ABI is exceptionally high among offenders and increases their re-offending risk. Information on risk factors for ABI and its outcomes among offenders that could guide effective treatment for them is, nevertheless, scarce and dispersed. However, there is a more substantial literature about the general population that could inform work with brain-injured offenders, especially when selecting for samples or subgroups with similar relevant characteristics, such as lower socio-economic status (SES), pre-injury lower tested intelligence score (<85) and pre-injury mental health problems...

Court-involved youth living in the community represent a vulnerable, yet understudied, group that is at risk for a variety of concerning outcomes including increased suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Additionally, sleep disruption, which has been associated with an increase in impulsive decision making, appears to be disproportionately high in this population. However, little is known about any connection between poor sleep and increased suicide risk and NSSI in a group of youth...

BACKGROUND: There may be significant physical and psychological consequences and impacts for males who experience sexual assault as adults, however, published literature in this context is sparse, specifically for the investigative outcomes in the criminal legal process. METHOD: This clinical audit tracked 138 adult males who presented for forensic and medical sexual assault care from initial presentation to ACT Police investigation and court outcome from 2004 to 2022...

Stalking perpetrators may suffer from maladaptive personality traits, particularly if they stalk in the context of an (ex-)intimate relationship. To date, no study has examined how different personality attributions may relate to stalker motivation, or the behaviors they engage in, and how this differs across victim-perpetrator relationships. Further, the perspective of the victim is often not taken into consideration, even though most stalking victims know their stalker intimately and a majority are stalked by a former or current partner...

This study aimed to scrutinize the characteristics of immigrant and refugee offenders within our institution, focusing on factors such as immigrant status, country of birth, duration of residence in Turkey, as well as psychiatric, socio-demographic, and criminal profiles. The data were obtained through a retrospective examination of case records referred to the Observation Department of the Council of Forensic Medicine for the assessment of criminal responsibility between 2017 and 2022. The study categorized the cases into two groups: refugees and immigrants, comprising 35 and 22 offenders, respectively...

BACKGROUND: Textual data analysis has become a popular method for examining complex human behavior in various fields, including psychology, psychiatry, sociology, computer science, data mining, forensic sciences, and communication studies. However, identifying the most relevant textual parameters for analyzing complex behavior is still a challenge. GOAL OF STUDY: This paper aims to explore potential textual parameters that could be useful in analyzing behavior through complex textual data...

Neuroimaging and other neurobiological evidences are increasingly introduced in criminal litigation, especially when a neuropsychiatric disorder is suspected. Evaluations of criminal competencies are the most common type of criminal forensic assessment in forensic psychiatry and psychology. Given this, it is critical for forensic evaluators to understand how neuropsychiatric disorders may affect a defendant's criminal competencies and how neurobiological data may be used in competency determinations. This paper reviews the use of neurobiological data, particularly neuroimaging, while considering the limitations and potential misuse of such data in criminal competency evaluations...

BACKGROUND: Dissemination of medical practice and scientific information through social media (SoMe) by clinicians and researchers is increasing. Broad exposure of information can promote connectivity within the scientific community, overcome barriers to access to sources, increase debate, and reveal layperson perspectives and preferences. On the other hand, practices lacking scientific evidence may also be promoted, laypeople may misunderstand the professional message, and clinician may suffer erosion of professional status...