Book Description

Forensic mental health assessment has essentially become synonymous with forensic psychological assessment. This necessary shift toward empirically grounded procedures has had the unfortunate by-product of diminishing the importance of the clinical interview in favor of procedures biased in the direction of rigid structure and statistical formulas. In contrast, the authors’ approach to forensic mental health places the individual front and center in the assessment process. The need to treat the interviewee as an individual rather than a member of some statistically defined group is the recurring theme of this book. As much as possible, the text is focused on the interview proper. Issues related to the broader topic of forensic assessment are discussed as necessary to provide context. Although the issues discussed apply equally in civil and family court settings, the focus is on the criminal justice system. This is not a “how to” book but rather focuses primarily on the interview process and on general areas of inquiry. The text is organized into three sections: (1) general issues, (2) specific applications, and (3) special populations. Section 1 provides a conceptual foundation for the book by comparing and contrasting clinical and forensic interview strategies. Further, it introduces the concept of idiographic model construction central to the authors’ approach to interviewing and also addresses the thorny issues of malingering and response bias. The section closes with a discussion of practical considerations and technical issues applicable to forensic interviews. In section 2, the focus is narrowed to three criminal justice settings: retrospective insanity offenses, here and now adjudicative competency assessments, and forward-looking predisposition assessments. The final section further narrows its focus with chapters on interviewing sexual, violent, and adolescent offenders, as well as a chapter on third-party sources of information in forensic mental health evaluations. The book will serve as a valuable resource for a variety of mental health professionals as well as criminal justice administrators.