Reference no: EM131484717
Discussion - Applying Ethics in Assessment and Evaluation
Last week you focused on treatment services provided in forensic settings. For this Discussion, you focus on assessment and evaluation of forensic populations.
Treatment and assessment are two services that are related yet fundamentally different in forensic psychology. For example in forensic psychology, assessment and evaluation involves gathering information from clients related to legal matters. Information gathered during assessment is verified by outside sources and much of the information provided by the client is considered suspect, unless otherwise verified.
Assessment information may be collected in a variety of ways and by various sources not just the forensic psychology professional. This is quite different from forensic psychology treatment where the emphasis is placed on acting in the best interest of the client/patient. Standards of confidentiality and informed consent may diverge significantly between treatment and assessment.
An important issue to consider is the ethical application of confidentiality and informed consent in forensic settings particularly related to conducting an assessment and evaluation.
To prepare for this Discussion:
• Review Chapters 2, 3, and 4 in the course text Ethical Practice in Forensic Psychology: A Systematic Model for Decision Making, thinking about ethical issues germane to assessment and evaluation in forensic settings.
• Pay particular attention to the issues of confidentiality and informed consent in forensic settings.
• Think about instances that might involve confidentiality and/or informed consent in forensic settings such as custody hearings, competency to stand trial, and death penalty hearings. Use your weekly resources, Internet, and Walden Library. Think of examples based on your professional experience or research.
• Select one area of assessment or evaluation (custody hearing, competency to stand trial, or death penalty hearings) related to forensic psychology to use in this discussion.
• Think about issues related to applying informed consent and confidentiality when working with forensic populations in forensic settings.
• Select an example of an adult or juvenile client to consider for the application of informed consent and confidentiality in forensic settings.
• Consider the potential limits to confidentiality and informed consent in forensic settings.
• Think about implications related to limitations on assessment and evaluation in forensic settings.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day 4 a brief description of the example of assessment or evaluation (custody hearing, competency to stand trial, or death penalty hearings) and the type of client (adult or juvenile) you selected. Then explain potential limits to confidentiality and use of informed consent related to the example. Finally, explain the implications of potential limitations on assessment and evaluation in forensic settings.
Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources.
Application: Report Writing and Testimony
You may have noted in your study of forensic psychology ethics, thus far, that professional ethics consists of a fluid and dynamic set of guidelines that may have different meanings across various domains. In the Discussion this week, you explored potential limits of employing confidentiality and informed consent in forensic settings.
Now you are asked to consider ethical issues that might arise related to report writing and testifying about the information that you gather as a result of assessment in forensic settings. For example, you may need to take into account what information you might exclude for ethical reasons, from your report or from your testimony.
In addition, you may need to be concerned about how ethical codes and/or guidelines associated with forensic psychology intersect with the information that you share in reports or testimony. When making a decision to include or exclude questionable information in reports or testimony, it is prudent to think about the implications for both the client and the legal agency involved in the case.
As a forensic psychology professional, you may need you be prepared to defend you reasoning for including and/excluding specific information. What you choose to share or withhold may have implications for outcomes related to legal matters of the case.
To prepare for this assignment:
• Review Chapters 5 and 6 in the course text Ethical Practice in Forensic Psychology: A Systematic Model for Decision Making. Think about ethical considerations related to report writing and testifying as a forensic psychology professional.
• Review the case study taking note of ethical issues in the case.
• Select at least two ethical dilemmas that you noted in the case study related to report writing and testifying.
• Think about what information you might include in the report and information that you might exclude from the report or testimony.
• Revisit the APA and AP-LS website to refresh your knowledge of ethical codes and guidelines.
• Consider ethical codes and guidelines you might be violating or are in question based on the information in your report or testimony.
• Think concretely about the consequences related to the information that you divulge in your report or testimony.
The assignment (2-3 pages):
• Briefly describe the ethical dilemmas that you chose from case study.
• Explain what information you might include/exclude in your report or testimony and the reasoning behind why you chose to include/exclude particular information.
• Explain which ethical code and guidelines you might you be violating or might be in question given the information that you included in the report or testimony. Be sure to cite specific codes and guidelines.
• Explain the implications/consequences of the information that you divulge in your report or testimony.
• Share an insight(s) or draw a conclusion(s) about report writing and testimony in Forensic Psychology settings.
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.
Case Study
As the forensic psychology professional conducting an evaluation for the Court on an individual with a referral question of "insanity," you have obtained the following information:
He is a 24-year-old black, male who is charged with child sexual abuse. His mother is a known prostitute who is addicted to crack cocaine. The defendant has a previous diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and you concur with the diagnosis.
However, your evaluation brings you to the conclusion that, although he has a severe mental disease (i.e. paranoid schizophrenia) at the time he allegedly molested an eight-year-old male neighbor, he understood what he was doing and that it was wrong, both morally and legally. You also learn the defendant has hepatitis C, and he admits to previously molesting per-pubescent boys.
On a test for malingering where he is asked to remember the following and shown the items for 10 seconds and then reproduce it in writing:
G B C D
6 7 8 9
g b c d
VI VII VIII IX
The defendant states he is unable to remember any of the items. You know that even the most impaired individuals can remember nine of the 16 items. Scores below nine indicate feigning memory issues.
The defendant demonstrates a consistent pattern of malingering on his test results and with his behavior. You over-hear him discussing during a phone call that he is doing a "good job" of "fooling these doctors."
You also suspect, given your extensive evaluation, that, if released, he will predate (be a predator) prey on future pre-pubescent males. You find out that he has two younger brothers, one of which you learn was sexually molested while in a foster home.
Readings
• Article: American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct.
• Article: Specialty guidelines for forensic psychology. (2013). American Psychologist, 68(1), 7-19. doi:10.1037/a0029889