Psychological Evaluations for the Courts, Third Edition: A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals and Lawyers [Hardcover]

Gary B. Melton PhD (Author), John Petrila JD LLM (Author), PhD Norman G. Poythress (Author), Christopher Slobogin JD LLM (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1572309660 | ISBN-13: 978-1572309661 | Publication Date: September 18, 2007 | Edition: Third Edition

This is the definitive reference and text for both mental health and legal professionals. The authors offer a uniquely comprehensive discussion of the legal and clinical contexts of forensic assessment, along with best-practice guidelines for participating effectively and ethically in a wide range of criminal and civil proceedings. Presented are findings, instruments, and procedures related to criminal and civil competencies, civil commitment, sentencing, personal injury claims, antidiscrimination laws, child custody, juvenile justice, and more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is the rarest of psychology books--an encyclopedic synthesis that fully serves both academic and practical interests. The sample reports alone are worth the purchase price to a practitioner, and the case law commentary should stimulate much research. During my testimony, I often disagree that any treatise is authoritative, but Psychological Evaluations for the Courts comes closest to getting my nod."/m-/Manfred F. Greiffenstein, PhD, ABPP-CN, Psychological Systems, Inc., Royal Oak, Michigan

"This outstanding work belongs on every mental health expert’s shelf. It is the best forensic assessment book on the market, and the best available text for preparing for board certification examinations."--Paul R. Lees-Haley, PhD, ABPP, private practice, Huntsville, Alabama

"Melton et al. have done it again...and again. This third edition upholds the book's undisputed standing as the single, indispensable reference for forensic mental health examiners, students in forensic training programs, and attorneys. Thoroughly revised, it retains concepts of enduring value to the field while incorporating the most important advances in forensic assessment over the last 10 years."--Thomas Grisso, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School

"One of those rare books for which 'must read' is an understatement. Even more than its predecessors, this edition deserves ovations for combining cutting-edge science, exceptional clinical insight, and outstanding legal acumen. The platinum standard for forensic best practice has just arrived."--John Monahan, PhD, John S. Shannon Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Virginia

"As good as the previous editions were, this third edition is even better. Its lucid exposition of legal issues, combined with sophisticated discussion of assessment approaches and ethical concerns, make it an invaluable companion for forensic mental health professionals and trainees of all disciplines. One of the few indispensable references for forensic mental health practice."--Paul S. Appelbaum, MD, Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine, and Law, Columbia University

"The release of the third edition of Psychological Evaluations for the Courts will ensure it remains the authoritative reference in the field for years to come. This is a truly indispensable volume that both embodies and establishes the state of the discipline. Its breadth of coverage is unmatched by any other book, and each topic is analyzed critically and in exacting detail. The quality of psycholegal scholarship is, quite simply, awesome. For educators, this book can serve as the single required text for virtually any graduate or postgraduate training program in forensic psychology. It is also an excellent practice guide for those already working in the field."--Stephen D. Hart, PhD, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Canada

About the Author

Gary B. Melton, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life at Clemson University, and a fellow in the Centre for Psychology and Law at the University of the Free State in South Africa. He is a past president of Childwatch International, the American Orthopsychiatric Association, the American Psychology–Law Society, and the American Psychological Association (APA) Division of Child, Youth, and Family Services. He is the recipient of three APA Distinguished Scientific Contribution Awards (for Psychology in the Public Interest, Public Service, and International Advancement of Psychology), among many other honors for his research and public service. The author of more than 300 publications, Dr. Melton has traveled in more than 40 countries, in most cases for research, consultation, or lecturing; his work has been cited by U.S. courts at all levels; and he has been an advisor to the U.S. Attorney General and the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child. Dr. Melton served as vice-chair of the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect and as national vice-president of Parents Anonymous, and he was a member of panels of the National Academy of Sciences on mistreatment of older adults and on training of health professionals about family violence.

 

John Petrila, JD, LLM, is a professor in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy at the University of South Florida. He served as chair of the Department from 1992 to 2004. He has also been General Counsel to the New York State Office of Mental Health and Director of Forensic Services in the Missouri Department of Mental Hygiene. Mr. Petrila is past president of the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services and a member of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Mandated Community Treatment. He has published widely on mental health law and policy issues. He is the coeditor of the journal Behavioral Sciences and the Law, the coeditor of Mental Health Services: A Public Health Perspective, and a coauthor of The Effectiveness of Involuntary Outpatient Treatment, the RAND Institute’s study on the effectiveness of outpatient civil commitment.

 

Norman G. Poythress, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy at the University of South Florida. He is a past president of the American Psychology–Law Society and was the 1990 recipient of the American Academy of Forensic Psychology’s Award for Distinguished Contributions to Forensic Psychology. Dr. Poythress has served as a consultant to two MacArthur Foundation Research Networks, and his own research has been funded by the MacArthur Foundation and the National Institute of Mental Health. He previously served as an expert panelist in the development of a benchbook for psychological evidence, a project of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law, and he recently served on a committee of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, that developed recommendations regarding ethical guidelines for research involving prisoners as participants.

 

Christopher Slobogin, JD, LLM, is the Milton Underwood Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University Law School.  In the early 1980s Mr. Slobogin helped establish Virginia’s outpatient forensic evaluation system as Director of the University of Virginia’s Forensic Evaluation Center and also directed a legal aid program at a state mental hospital. Coauthor of Law and the Mental Health System, the leading law school textbook on mental health law, he has authored over 40 articles and books on that subject. He has served as chair of the Law and Mental Disability Section of the American Association of Law Schools, reporter for the American Bar Association’s Standards on the Insanity Defense, coreporter for the ABA’s Resolution on Mental Disability and the Death Penalty, and editor/reviewer for several professional journals.

 

Phillip M. Lyons, Jr., JD, PhD, is Professor of Criminal Justice and an affiliate faculty member with the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program at Sam Houston State University. He is also the Executive Director of the Texas Regional Center for Public Safety Innovation. Before graduate and law school, Dr. Lyons worked as a peace officer in the Houston area. When he left full-time law enforcement, he was a detective specializing in crimes involving children. His academic interests lie largely in the areas of public policy that affect children and law enforcement policy, with the aim of promoting inclusiveness, community engagement, and social support. He currently serves on the American Psychological Association’s ad hoc Committee on Legal Issues.

 

Randy K. Otto, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy at the University of South Florida. He also serves as adjunct faculty at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida, and in the Department of Psychology and the Department of Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling at the University of South Florida. Dr. Otto’s research, writing, and practice focus on forensic psychological assessment, and he has served as president of the American Academy of Forensic Psychology, the American Psychology–Law Society, and the American Board of Forensic Psychology. He chaired the Committee on Legal Issues of the American Psychological Association and currently spearheads the committee revising the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists, which are published jointly by Division 41 of the American Psychological Association and the American Board of Forensic Psychology.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 930 pages
• Publisher: The Guilford Press; Third Edition edition (September 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572309660
• ISBN-13: 978-1572309661
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.2 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #33 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Crime & Criminals  > Forensic Science

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading, October 5, 2007

By 

Karen Franklin "Forensic Psychologist" (El Cerrito, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Psychological Evaluations for the Courts, Third Edition: A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals and Lawyers (Hardcover)

The second edition, published in 1997, was the ultimate reference authority. The field has expanded considerably since then, and this third edition is even bigger and better. It is written for two groups: mental health professionals who perform psychological evaluations for the courts, and the legal professionals who retain them. It is also an invaluable resource book for students pursuing careers in forensic psychology or mental health law.

The collective experiences of the authors are diverse, and the book's coverage is similarly wide-ranging and comprehensive. Overview chapters discuss the nature of the legal system and forensic psychological assessment. Specific topics include criminal (competencies, mental state at the time of the offense, juvenile delinquency, sentencing) and non-criminal applications (civil commitment, tort claims, child abuse, parenting).

Always, the authors focus both on ethics and on practicality. We learn about operating a forensic practice and the how-to's of communicating with the courts, both orally and in writing. One of my favorite sections is the last hundred pages, which contain 17 sample reports complete with discussion. As a teaching tool, there is nothing better than this.

Thorough and well-written, this book is mandatory for the shelf of any forensic practitioner, mental health lawyer, or forensic psychology graduate student.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars surprising error in risk assessment section, August 3, 2008

By 

Susan J. Sachsenmaier (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Psychological Evaluations for the Courts, Third Edition: A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals and Lawyers (Hardcover)

Melton et al's Psychological Evaluations for the Courts has been an impressive text since the first edition; with this (3rd) edition, I and am surprised to see an error in the description of the RRASOR on p. 314. The Rapid Risk Assessment for Sexual Offense Recidivism is one method used to evaluate sexual offenders for risk of rearrest or reconviction for a new sexual offense; therefore is used in many legal cases where the liberty interest of a person for years to come may be the main issue. This warrants an accurate review of the instrument, even if the review is only a few sentences. Melton et al state correctly that the instrument is composed of only four items, then list these as being prior offenses, gender of victim, age at release, and marital history. While marital history is an item of the Static-99 (a different but related method for estimating risk of sexual offenders), it is NOT an item of the RRASOR. The fourth item of the RRASOR is the offender's relationship to the victim.

The item "relationship to victim" is scored positive if the victim was unrelated to the offender, and negative if the victim was a close relative. This is in keeping with research that generally shows that a sexual offender who has offended only against a family member - incest - is less likely to commit and get caught for another sexual offense than is an offender who commits a sexual offense against an unrelated victim.

This is an unfortunate error, as the Static-99 item regarding marital history has been found to be the least reliable item to score and is the one most frequently left out of research studies and is being left out of the next version of the Static-99, the Static-2002.

Another point is that the "prior offenses" item refers to prior SEXUAL offenses, not to any criminal offense.

Sexual predator statutes were not yet enacted when Melton et al's first edition of this book came out and the methods often used today to estimate risk for future sexual criminal arrest and reconviction were not yet developed, so this section in the third edition is not one that has been extensively dealt with in previous editions.

I do have Melton's previous books and have, as others in my profession generally do, consider the volume on Psychological Evaluations for the Courts to be an indispensable resource; which is why this cursory and inaccurate treatment of a subject is so surprising. The authors have been contacted and although they cannot correct the error in this edition, they will address it in the next supplement.

The book is definitely worth having.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for Forensic Psychology Students, March 7, 2011

By 

T. Niles (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Psychological Evaluations for the Courts, Third Edition: A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals and Lawyers (Kindle Edition)

As any student can attest, having a reliable resource to refer back to is not only important, but invaluable at times. I was preparing for some summer courses and decided to get this text because it sounded perfect for those courses. As it turns out, its perfect for just about any forensic course! I just started a course dedicated to the evaluation and treatment of offenders and I am already using it more than the class text. There is so much information, and it covers so many topics with just enough depth to provide the answers you're looking for.

I would also highly recommend the Kindle version (which you can also use on your Mac if you get the Mac Kindle app). Although you can still make notes/highlight in the hard copy, why add another cumbersome book to your load when you don't have too? Keep it electronic, highlight and notate all you want. I have an iPad and a Mac computer and the kindle app transfers those notes/highlights back and forth. At the end of the day, whether you get the electronic copy or the hardback, this book is definitely worth the cost!