NCJ Number
148797
Date Published
1987
Length
539 pages
Annotation
This book aims to provide mental health professionals involved in performing psychological evaluations for the courts, and lawyers and judges who request such evaluations, with a comprehensive guide to the issues the legal system has most commonly asked clinicians to address.
Abstract
The first part of the book deals with topics of overriding importance to the issues at hand: the theoretical differences between the legal and mental health professions and the types of useful information a mental health professional can provide to the legal system, the infrastructure of the law, and the complex legal and ethical principles that control the process of psychological evaluation. The next three sections deal with substantive evaluation areas: psychological evaluations performed for the criminal justice system, issues related to civil law, and the involvement of children in the legal process. The final section of the book discusses the ways in which results of a psychological evaluation should be communicated to the legal profession. Chapter references