ASSESSING COMPETENCY

Assessing Competency

Case: Assessing Competency

One of the things that make being a forensic psychologist both a joy and a challenge is its sex appeal. That's right, forensic psychology is a sexy topic. Forensic psychology is inherently appealing at some very basic level that gets students and the everyday person interested in the topic. However, with this sex appeal comes the challenge. People think they have a good sense of forensic psychology and the different things a forensic psychologist does. The problem is that this sense comes from many of the sensational aspects of forensic psychology that are frequently exaggerated or simply inaccurate.

Who would you want to interview for collateral contact about him? 3. Does he appear to meet the criteria for competency to stand trial? Why or why not?

Just as the sex appeal inherent to forensic psychology makes it both a challenge and a blessing, the description of forensic psychology is very straightforward but also complex. At a very basic level, forensic psychology is the application of psychology to the legal system. However, there has been a great deal of debate about the breadth of topics that such a definition includes. Some believe that forensic psychology refers only to the clinical aspects of psychology, such as the assessment and treatment of mental illness. Others believe that forensic psychology should be interpreted more broadly and include nonclinical topics, such as eyewitness identification and jury decision making. Our focus will be on only the clinical aspects of forensic psychology, so our definition of forensic psychology is the application of the clinical practice of psychology to the legal system. You already may be saying to yourself, “For such a sexy topic, this definition does not seem very sexy to me.” So, why is forensic psychology so inherently interesting? (Torres, 2007) The public's notion of forensic psychology does come from television shows and movies in which a psychologist is somehow involved in the “processing of a crime scene.” Movies like Silence of the Lambs and Kiss the Girls frequently depict forensic psychologists as super sleuths who get into the minds of serial killers with their psychological techniques and foil their murderous plans. There was even a television show on for several years, Profiler, in which a Dr. Samantha Waters played a “forensic psychologist” who was a psychic detective. The only problem with such a show is there is no empirical support in psychology for the existence of psychic powers, nor have forensic psychologists ever solved crimes by reading tea leaves or interpreting psychic visions. Shows like the multiple Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) television shows, though they involve actual forensic science, only further suggest to the public that forensic psychologists are out there catching the bad guys. (Van, 2002)

The criteria for competency to stand trial:

As we have noted, there are many opportunities for positive interaction between the fields of psychology and the law; however, this marriage of two disciplines does not come without some inherent conflict. Judges and attorneys are trained to look at ...