Question

Forensic Psychology: Psychological Consulting

Competency

How can malingering impact the accuracy of a competency assessment tool?

Please given an in-depth explanation of what criminal responsibility is and how we assess for it.

What role does a psychologist pay as an expert witness play when a defendants competency to stand triald is in question?

Answer 1

How can malingering impact the accuracy of a competency assessment tool?

Malingering as defined, “intentional production of false or grossly exaggerated physical or psychological symptoms, motivated by external incentives such as avoiding military duty, avoiding work, obtaining financial compensation, evading criminal prosecution, or
obtaining drugs”

Impact on the accuracy of the competency assessment tool

The following are some of the common impacts:

1. The impact is such that 10-15% of the pretrial cases are related to malingering.
2. Exaggerating the symptoms of their mental illness is one of the most common ways in which pre-trials malinger and sabotage the need for a trial.
3. Sensitivity tests are the norm for patients who are pre-trial so as to ensure that they are not exaggerating their symptoms.
4. Conflicting results are also an outcome of malingering and are very difficult to identify.
5. The need for an evaluator to analyze all possible outcomes of the tool.
6. The chances of misclassifying a valid case as a malingerer.

Please give an in-depth explanation of what criminal responsibility is and how we assess for it.

Criminal Responsibility

Criminal responsibility involves assessing and confirming that an individual was legally insane at the time of commiting a crime. It is normally requested by courts in order to ascertain whether an individual requires punishment and has committed the crime in full knowledge of the consequences thereof. It is important to avoid the recurrence of crime and is used to restore balance in the society.
There are many cases of classifying people as criminally responsible. The circumstances under which crime was committed, whether it could have been avoided, how it could have been handled alternately, whether it was inevitable, how the individual is viewed and treated by the society, what factors influenced the crime, is the individual capable of making moral decisions, is the individual aware of legal repurcussions etc., All these are questions that need to be answered prior to taking a case up for trial.

The general classification is that an individual may be tried as a child or an adult. Since, insanity is commonly pled, it is important to filter out genuine cases from the exaggerated ones.

How do we assess it?

A clear analysis of the following is step one:

1. Investigative evidence collected
2. A transcript of the defendant's interviews
3. Statements of witnesses
4. Investiative reports

Additionally,

1. The type of illness - whether it is progressive or regressive
2. The timeline of illness - whether it was acquired pre, post or during the time of the crime
3. The accuracy of witness statements
4. the accuracy of the defendant's statements
5. The level of symptoms exhibited by the defendant at the tie of crime

All these factors should be analyzed prior to labelling someone 'criminally responsible'.

What role does a psychologist pay as an expert witness play when a defendants competency to stand triald is in question?

The psychologist is required to have advanced clinical skills and a track record of following standards. This ensures that the opinion of the psychologist is respected.

As an expert witness, enough weightage is given to the psychologists' opinion of the defendant because in spite of past illness, the evaluation by the psychologist is paramount for the insanity plea.
A psychologist reduces the level of ambiguity with respect to the insanity plea made by the defendant even if there is no concrete evidence for the same with the help of thorough evaluation done - involvig competency assesment tools.