This edited volume presents nine new state-of-the-science chapters covering topics relevant to psychology and law, from established and emerging researchers in the field. Relevant to researchers, clinical practitioners, and policy makers, topics include discussions of rape and sexual assault, eyewitness identification, body-worn cameras, forensic gait analysis, evaluations and assessments, veteran's experiences, therapeutic animals and wrongful convictions.

Focusing on juvenile transfer and disposition evaluations, this volume provides an up-to-date integration of current law, science, and practice with respect to juvenile risk assessment, treatment needs/amenability, and sophistication-maturity. Included are perspectives relating to international practices, use of specialized assessment tools, and a separate chapter on resentencing following US Supreme Court decisions on juveniles sentenced to mandatory life without parole. This text will be a useful and comprehensive reference for forensic psychologists and other mental health professionals engaged in juvenile evaluation, as well as legal professionals, juvenile and criminal justice professionals, and others involved with juvenile assessment, decision-making, and rehabilitation.

The paths to becoming a forensic psychologist are numerous and varied. Becoming a Forensic Psychologist provides insight into the process of pursuing a career in forensic psychology, from an introduction to the field itself to graduate school and beyond. This comprehensive guide extends beyond mere definitions and overviews to discuss tips, strategies, and questions to ask at every step of the way to becoming a forensic psychologist. Told from the perspectives of individuals at different stages in their career, this book provides up-to-date information about existing forensic psychology programs and resources to assist aspiring forensic psychologists in career decision-making. Additional sidebars define key terms, highlight important court decisions that shaped the field of forensic psychology, and provide interesting facts about the field. This book will help any individual pursuing a career as a forensic psychologist, including those about to start college who are narrowing their career interests, graduate students, and those already in the field of psychology who are considering a career shift.

Focusing on juvenile transfer and disposition evaluations, this volume provides an up-to-date integration of current law, science, and practice with respect to juvenile risk assessment, treatment needs/amenability, and sophistication-maturity. Included are perspectives relating to international practices, use of specialized assessment tools, and a separate chapter on resentencing following US Supreme Court decisions on juveniles sentenced to mandatory life without parole. This text will be a useful and comprehensive reference for forensic psychologists and other mental health professionals engaged in juvenile evaluation, as well as legal professionals, juvenile and criminal justice professionals, and others involved with juvenile assessment, decision-making, and rehabilitation.

Public behavioral health organizations serving those involved in the criminal justice system, such as problem-solving courts, correctional facilities, and parole or probation, often lack the necessary resources for long-standing effective treatment, and may struggle to keep up with research standards and retaining funding. To overcome these hurdles, many organizations have turned to university-led collaborations. University and Public Behavioral Health Organization Collaboration in Justice Contexts begins by introducing the relevant purpose and definitions of such partnerships. Each of the nine contributed chapters that follow features a particular collaboration between a university and a public behavioral health organization. Chapters are structured around a description of the collaboration's purposes, beginning, leadership, who is served, services, operations, effectiveness measurement, and financial arrangements. The descriptions provided of each project are then aggregated into a larger model for success which is detailed in the final chapter, along with a distillation of lessons learned in building, operating, and sustaining a successful collaboration. These lessons are grouped into specific categories: planning, working together, training, consultation, financial considerations, personnel, and research. By considering these nine exemplary projects and what they can teach us about such collaborations, this book constitutes an essential guide for those looking to establish comparable partnerships between universities and public behavioral health organizations in a criminal justice context.

The paths to becoming a forensic psychologist are numerous and varied. Becoming a Forensic Psychologist provides insight into the process of pursuing a career in forensic psychology, from an introduction to the field itself to graduate school and beyond. This comprehensive guide extends beyond mere definitions and overviews to discuss tips, strategies, and questions to ask at every step of the way to becoming a forensic psychologist. Told from the perspectives of individuals at different stages in their career, this book provides up-to-date information about existing forensic psychology programs and resources to assist aspiring forensic psychologists in career decision-making. Additional sidebars define key terms, highlight important court decisions that shaped the field of forensic psychology, and provide interesting facts about the field. This book will help any individual pursuing a career as a forensic psychologist, including those about to start college who are narrowing their career interests, graduate students, and those already in the field of psychology who are considering a career shift.

Forensic mental health assessments in death penalty cases are on the rise due in part to the continuing growth of forensic psychology and psychiatry as professions, combined with several recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Forensic mental health professionals are now conducting assessments at every stage of death penalty proceedings, ranging from pre-trial evaluations to determine eligibility for the death penalty to evaluations conducted post-sentencing and closer to the date of execution. Yet there are surprisingly few comprehensive resources available for students interested in death penalty assessments, clinicians who conduct those assessments, and attorneys who work with forensic mental health professionals.
Forensic Mental Health Assessments in Death Penalty Cases fills this gap in the literature, providing an essential road map to the field for students and practitioners. Well-written and comprehensive, this book integrates the most up-to-date research with best practice recommendations, yielding a solid foundation of information related to capital punishment, death penalty litigation, and the role of forensic mental health professionals in death penalty cases. Vivid descriptions of influential court cases, a discussion of ethical considerations, guidance on conducting various types of forensic mental health assessments, and sample forensic reports illustrating best practices make up this important work. Current case law is covered in detail, alongside an important discussion of what remains unknown and directions for future research. This book is essential reading for students and professionals in the fields of mental health, criminal justice, and law, as well as for forensic practitioners who may not be familiar with the special requirements of death penalty cases. It is also an important resource for attorneys who work with forensic mental health professionals.
"Dr. DeMatteo and his colleagues address a range of forensic mental health assessments, all related to death penalty litigation. They thoroughly consider up-to-date key legal cases, ethical issues, and methodology relevant to psychologists and psychiatrists working in this difficult area of practice. The inclusion of tables describing mitigating and aggravating factors and definitions of mental retardation on a state-by-state basis is an important feature of this book. This book is appropriate for graduate students, for 'seasoned' forensic mental health professionals, and for clinicians interested in developing expertise in evaluating a range of capital cases."--Alan M. Goldstein, Ph.D., ABPP, Board Certified in Forensic Psychology and Professor Emeritus, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
"In Forensic Mental Health Assessments in Death Penalty Cases, DeMatteo and colleagues have done a superb job of distilling the domains important for mental health evaluations in capital contexts. Having identified and described the issues surrounding Atkins, competence for execution, mitigation, and violence risk assessment, they go on to frame these issues within the larger context of best practice in forensic assessment. This book is scholarly, comprehensive, and practical-a combination that is certain to appeal to all who are (or aspire to be) involved in the process of capital litigation."--Kirk Heilbrun, Ph.D., Drexel University
"For better or worse, the United States continues to permit executions, and over thirty states house hundreds of people on death row. Mental health professionals are almost always involved in these cases. If you are such a professional, or a lawyer contemplating using a mental health expert in a capital case, this book will provide you with all the basic legal and clinical information you need. It is the only book of its kind, and well worth a look."
--Christopher Slobogin, Milton Underwood Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University Law School
"This book is a wonderful addition to the body of knowledge in capital case evaluations, presenting both legal and mental health information in depth and in a nuanced, thoughtful manner. The chapters on Atkins-type evaluations, mitigation evaluations, and the specifics of forensic assessments in capital cases are excellent guides for evaluators. For mental health professionals and attorneys who work in death penalty cases, this book is an indispensible resource."--Stanley L. Brodsky, Ph.D., The University of Alabama

The field of psychology-law is extremely broad, encompassing a strikingly large range of topic areas in both applied psychology and experimental psychology. Importantly, both applied and experimental psychologists have made meaningful contributions to the psychology-law field, and each of these domains includes a range of well-developed topic areas with robust empirical support. Despite the continued and rapid growth of the field, there is no current and comprehensive resource that provides coverage of the major topic areas in the psychology-law field. The Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Law fills this gap and offers an up-to-date, scholarly, and broad overview of psychology-law topics. David DeMatteo and Kyle C. Scherr have brought together a diverse group of highly esteemed applied and experimental researchers and scholars to discuss key topics in the field from both national and international perspectives. The volume is broadly divided into three sections: foundational psychology-law, applied psychology-law, and experimental-psychology-law. The Foundational Psychology-Law section includes chapters that are relevant to both applied psychology and experimental psychology, making a unique contribution that ties together the applied and experimental aspects of the field. The Applied Psychology-Law section provides coverage of topics related to the provision of forensic services (broadly defined) in criminal and civil legal contexts. Lastly, the Experimental Psychology-Law section covers empirically examined legal system issues and outcomes related to victims, offenders, witnesses, attorneys, and triers of fact. With comprehensive coverage of both applied and experimental topic areas and chapters written by a diverse group of well-established psychology-law scholars and emerging future leaders, this Handbook presents emerging, cutting-edge topics in psychology-law that will continue to grow and meaningfully shape future research programs and policy reform.

Problem-solving courts provide judicially supervised treatment for behavioral health needs commonly found among criminal offenders, including substance abuse and mental health disorders, and they treat a variety of offender populations. These courts employ a team-based approach consisting of a judge, defense attorney, prosecutor, and treatment providers, representing a significant paradigm shift in how the justice system treats offenders with special needs. Despite the proliferation of problem-solving courts, there remains some uncertainty about how they function, how effective they are, and the most promising ways to implement problem-solving justice. Problem-Solving Courts and the Criminal Justice System provides a comprehensive foundation of knowledge related to problem-solving courts and the role they play in the United States criminal justice system. The book begins with an overview that explores precipitating factors in these courts' development, relevant political influence, and their history, purposes, benefits, and drawbacks, followed by a detailed discussion of specific types of problem solving courts, including drug courts, mental health courts, and veterans courts, among many others. Next a review of the legal and ethical considerations of alternative methods to standard prosecution is complemented by an examination of the methodological challenges faced by researchers when attempting to study the effectiveness of problem-solving courts. The book concludes with a discussion of future directions in terms of research, practice, and policy relating to these courts in the United States. Problem-Solving Courts and the Criminal Justice System is appropriate for professionals, researchers, and students in the fields of mental health, criminal justice, and law.

Forensic mental health assessment (FMHA) continues to develop and expand as a specialization. Since the publication of the First Edition of Forensic Mental Health Assessment: A Casebook over a decade ago, there have been a number of significant changes in the applicable law, ethics, science, and practice that have shaped the conceptual and empirical underpinnings of FMHA. The Second Edition of Forensic Mental Health Assessment is thoroughly updated in light of the developments and changes in the field, while still keeping the unique structure of presenting cases, detailed reports, and specific teaching points on a wide range of topics. Unlike anything else in the literature, it provides genuine (although disguised) case material, so trainees as well as legal and mental health professionals can review how high-quality forensic evaluation reports are written; it features contributions from leading experts in forensic psychology and psychiatry, providing samples of work in their particular areas of specialization; and it discusses case material in the larger context of broad foundational principles and specific teaching points, making it a valuable resource for teaching, training, and continuing education. Now featuring 50 real-world cases, this new edition covers topics including criminal responsibility, sexual offending risk evaluation, federal sentencing, capital sentencing, capacity to consent to treatment, personal injury, harassment and discrimination, guardianship, juvenile commitment, transfer and decertification, response style, expert testimony, evaluations in a military context, and many more. It will be invaluable for anyone involved in assessments for the courts, including psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and attorneys, as well as for FMHA courses.