Case Analysis

For this assignment, analyze the case and answer the questions following it.

John Doe is a twenty-one-year-old Caucasian male, who was arrested at his home, which he shared with his parents and older sister. He was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography. The defendant grew up in a semirural environment. He has a slight speech impediment. He was sexually molested by a distant relative at the age of nine, who has since been incarcerated on an unrelated charge. Doe has been using marijuana and alcohol since he was fourteen. Doe was held back in second grade and subsequently was in special education classes. He had sex for the first time at the age of eighteen with a girl he knew from the neighborhood. They were both drunk at the time and she made fun of his clumsiness. He did not enjoy the experience. Doe graduated from high school at the age of nineteen and has stayed home since then. He never found employment. He is mildly depressed. Doe enjoys playing video games on his computer, which his parents bought him when he graduated from high school.

When interviewed by the arresting officers, Doe agreed to answer questions. He has been a member of several chat rooms, where child pornography in the form of both pictures and videos is shared. A subsequent search of Doe's computer revealed hundreds of images and videos of adult males engaging in sexual activities with prepubescent children. When booked into the local jail, John sliced his wrists with a razor and attempted to hang himself using a torn T-shirt. The cuts were superficial and the noose broke, causing John to fall to the floor and hit his head. He never lost consciousness. His defense attorney requested an evaluation for competency to stand trial and legal sanity. After a three-month treatment with psychotropic medication for depression, Doe was found competent to proceed to trial. The evaluation for legal sanity did not produce significant results. Doe decided to accept a plea agreement. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a hundred-month sentence (eight years and four months), followed by ten years of supervised release. If he had gone to trial and lost, he could have received a prison sentence between fifteen and twenty years in length. Doe was sent to a federal prison facility specializing in treatment of sex offenders.

Based on the above information, respond to the following questions:

• Develop an initial mental health postarrest assessment for Doe that includes a line of questioning to determine personality type and suicide risk.
• Develop an initial investigative postarrest assessment for Doe, focusing on possible motivations for the crime in question.
• Compare the differences between how law enforcement personnel and a forensic mental health professional would conduct assessment and criminal investigative procedures in the case of Doe.
• Based on reviewed research, describe 3-4 personality characteristics and motivational dynamics of an individual who is capable of such a crime.
• Develop an appropriate postconviction treatment for Doe, including specific recommendations for type of treatment (cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, and medication) and modality (individual and group) as well as outcome measures, which would evaluate his progress.
• Describe 2-3 appropriate psychological tests that could be useful in psychological profiling and/or criminal investigation for this case.