Cross-Cultural Forensic Neuropsychological Assessment (From Race, Culture, Psychology, & Law, P 141-162, 2005, Kimberly Holt Barrett and William H. George, eds. -- See NCJ-216932)

• NCJ Number: 216939
• Author(s): Tedd Judd; Breean Beggs
• Date Published: 2005
• Length: 22 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Format: Book Chapter
• Publication Type: Instructional Material
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter is an introduction to cross-cultural forensic neuropsychological evaluations for the instruction of nonneuropsychologists who may be required to assess what can and cannot be determined by such an evaluation, as well as the quality of the evaluation in a particular case.

Abstract

Clinical neuropsychology is a specialization of clinical psychology concerned with people who have brain disorders. In a neuropsychological evaluation, the clinician assesses the changes or impairments in thinking abilities, executive functions, emotions, behavior, and functional abilities. The most distinctive feature of such an assessment is the use of neuropsychological tests. Neuropsychological evaluation has a growing role in the forensic setting, with one of the main issues pertinent to a legal context being the amount of damage caused by a personal injury. A cross-cultural evaluation takes place when there are cultural differences among the examiner, the person being tested, and the examination materials and/or concepts. In a cross-cultural examination, an issue may be the subject's ability to conform his/her behavior to the norms (laws, justice system, institutional expectations) of another culture. In cross-cultural neuropsychological evaluations, the neuropsychologist should have knowledge and skill related to cross-cultural evaluation in general, knowledge about the specific culture/language of the subject, knowledge of the neuropsychological literature of the culture/language of the subject, access to appropriate test materials and norms, knowledge about the specific forensic questions, and knowledge of the professional ethical principles applicable to the specific case. The discussion of forensic evaluation issues addresses the forensic question, medical versus cultural determinants, causality, prognosis and prediction, culturally relative standards, and standards of proof. A chapter section on specific forensic questions considers issues related to personal injury; competencies; and vocational, educational, and disability issues. The role of neuropsychological evaluation in criminal defenses is also discussed. 1 table, 2 case studies, and 72 references