Consent, Disclosure, and Waiver for the Forensic Psychological Evaluation: Rethinking the Roles of Psychologist and Lawyer

By William E. Foote,Daniel W. Shuman

Application: Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists

In the Discussion this week, you again reviewed the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists published by the American Psychology-Law Society (AP-LS)-the most specific set of guidelines applicable to forensic psychology professionals. Division 41 of the American Psychological Association AP-LS is arguably the most influential of all professional organizations for forensic psychology professionals in the United States and Canada.

As such, it is crucial for forensic psychology professionals who practice in these countries to be thoroughly familiar with its guidelines, and especially to understand the importance of their application.

To prepare for this assignment:

• Review Chapter 3 in the course text, Learning Forensic Assessment. Consider the ethical and legal issues inherent in forensic assessment work.

• Review the article, "Consent, Disclosure, and Waiver for the Forensic Psychological Evaluation: Rethinking the Roles of Psychologist and Lawyer." Reflect on the legal aspects of consent for forensic assessments.

• Review Chapter 3 in the course text, Foundations of Forensic Mental Health Assessment. Particularly think about how ethical standards and other guidelines contribute to best practice standards.

• Review the online article, "Forensic Matters and the New APA Ethics Code: Great Care Went Into Crafting How the New Code Addresses Forensic Matters." Reflect on why specialty guidelines or guidelines that address specific arenas are important.

• Review the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists. Select one guideline from each of the following sections: Competence, Relationships, Confidentiality and Privilege, Methods and Procedures, and Public and Professional Communications. Consider what each guideline pertains to and its importance for a forensic psychology professional conducting assessments.

The assignment (2-3 pages):

• Briefly describe each of the guidelines you selected.

• Explain why each guideline may be important to a forensic psychology professional when conducting forensic assessments, using specific examples.

Support your Application Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are asked to provide a reference list only for those resources not included in the Learning Resources for this course.

Discussion : Applying Forensic Psychology Guidelines

The guidelines for various areas of practice have great importance to the forensic psychology professional. As you discovered in last week's readings, the forensic psychology professional applies his or her skills in an arena that takes seriously the concept of administering justice to all.

The guidelines that are specific to forensic assessment thus help forensic psychology professionals who conduct assessments provide the best service possible to the justice system and to individuals who are tried in and served by it.

This week's Discussion helps familiarize you even more with the guidelines specific to the forensic psychology professional. It also allows you to apply what you have read to a case fraught with potential issues.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists. Select three guidelines from sections III through VII (Competence, Relationships, Confidentiality and Privilege, Methods and Procedures, and Public and Professional Communications). Reflect on how you might apply each of these three guidelines to a case study when conducting a forensic assessment.

• Review the Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists and select one that you might apply to a case study. Reflect on how you might apply it when conducting a forensic assessment.

• Review the Week 4 Case Study located on the initial Week 4 Discussion area. Think about how you might apply the guidelines you selected to this case when conducting a forensic assessment.

With these thoughts in mind:

Post by Day 4 a brief description of each of the three forensic guidelines you selected as well as the multicultural guideline you selected. Explain how each may be applied to the case study when conducting a forensic assessment. Also explain why each is important to address in the case and how you might address them in order to ensure that they are taken into account and/or followed, using specific examples.

Note: Put the guidelines you selected in the first line of your post. You will be asked to respond to a colleague who selected at least two guidelines that you did not.

Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources.

Websites

• Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists

http://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/policy/multicultural-guidelines.aspx

• American Psychology-Law Society: Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists

http://www.ap-ls.org/aboutpsychlaw/SpecialtyGuidelines.php

Note: After clicking the above link, click the link that reads, "Existing SGFP guidelines."

• Article: Behnke, S. (2004). Forensic matters and the new APA Ethics Code: Great care went into crafting how the new code addresses forensic matters. Retrieved from

http://www.apa.org/monitor/may04/ethics.aspx