Forensic Psychological Assessment in Practice: Case Studies

315 Pages·2015·2.429 MB·English

by  Corine de Ruiter, Nancy Kaser-Boyd

FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGICAL
ASSESSMENT IN PRACTICE
Forensic Psychological Assessment in Practice: Case Studies presents a set of forensic
criminal cases as examples of a scientist-practitioner model for forensic psycho -
logical assessment. The cases involve a number of forensic issues, such as criminal
responsibility, violence risk assessment, treatment planning, and referral to long-
term forensic care. Likewise, different types of offenses are covered, for example,
sexual offending, arson, homicide, robbery, and domestic violence. The authors
address a variety of mental disorders including psychosis, Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder, psychopathy, and other personality disorders. The book will be useful
for novice and experienced forensic psychologists and psychiatrists who are
looking for case studies that integrate the most recent empirical evidence with
psychological test findings.
Corine de Ruiteris Professor of Forensic Psychology at Maastricht University,
The Netherlands. Previously, she worked as Head of the Research Department
of the Van der Hoevenkliniek, Forensic Psychiatric Centre in Utrecht, and as
endowed Professor of Forensic Psychology at the University of Amsterdam.
Nancy Kaser-Boyd is Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Bio-
behavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and she
is on the Los Angeles County Superior Court Psychiatric Expert Panels in
Criminal and Delinquency Court.
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON FORENSIC
MENTAL HEALTH
A Routledge Book Series
Edited by Ronald Roesch and Stephen Hart
Simon Fraser University
The goal of this series is to improve the quality of health care services in forensic
settings by providing a forum for discussing issues related to policy, administration,
clinical practice, and research. The series will cover topics such as mental health
law; the organization and administration of forensic services for people with mental
disorder; the development, implementation, and evaluation of treatment programs
for mental disorder in civil and criminal justice settings; the assessment and
management of violence risk, including risk for sexual violence and family
violence; and staff selection, training, and development in forensic systems. The
book series will consider proposals for both monographs and edited works on
these and similar topics, with special consideration given to proposals that promote
best practice and are relevant to international audiences.
Managing Fear
Published Titles
The Law and Ethics of Preventive
Learning Forensic Assessment Detention and Risk Assessment
Rebecca Jackson Bernadette McSherry
Handbook of Violence Risk Case Studies in Sexual Deviance
Assessment Toward Evidence Based Practice
Randy K. Otto & Kevin S. Douglas William T. O’Donohue
Dangerous People Forensic Psychological
Policy, Prediction, and Practice Assessment in Practice
Bernadette McSherry & Patrick Keyzer Case Studies
Corine de Ruiter & Nancy Kaser-Boyd
Risk Markers for Sexual
Victimization and Predation
in Prison
Forthcoming Titles
Janet I. Warren & Shelly L. Jackson
Handbook of Forensic Social
How to Work With Sex
Work with Children
Offenders
Viola Vaughan-Eden
A Handbook for Criminal Justice,
Human Service, and Mental Health Sex Offender Risk
Professionals, Second Edition An Indeterminate Preoccupation
Rudy Flora & Michael L. Keohane Robert Prentky & Howard Barbaree
FORENSIC
PSYCHOLOGICAL
ASSESSMENT
IN PRACTICE
Case Studies
Corine de Ruiter
Nancy Kaser-Boyd
First published 2015
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 2FA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 Taylor & Francis
The right of Corine de Ruiter and Nancy Kaser-Boyd to be identified as
authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Ruiter, C. de, author.
Forensic psychological assessment in practice: case studies/Corine De
Ruiter, Nancy Kaser-Boyd.
p. ; cm.—(International perspectives on forensic mental health)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
I. Kaser-Boyd, Nancy, author. II. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Forensic Psychiatry—Case Reports. W 740]
RA1151
614′.15—dc23
2014035638
ISBN: 978-0-415-89522-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-85275-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-72331-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo and Stone Sans
by Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon, UK
CONTENTS
About the Authors vii
Acknowledgements ix
Foreword by Ronald Roesch, Series Editor xi
Preface xv
1 The Forensic-Clinical Psychologist as Expert in
Criminal Court 1
Corine de Ruiter
2 Domestic Estrangement and Familicide 19
Corine de Ruiter
3 Neonaticide in a Young Immigrant Woman 42
Nancy Kaser-Boyd
4 A Firesetter in Longstay Forensic Care 64
Corine de Ruiter
5 Indecent Exposure, Exhibitionism, and Other Paraphilias 92
Nancy Kaser-Boyd
6 Filicide or False Confession? 112
Corine de Ruiter
vi Contents
7 Domestic Violence: Evaluating the Effects of Intimate
Partner Battering 136
Nancy Kaser-Boyd
8 An Adolescent Violent Offender: Avoiding Premature
Labeling 161
Corine de Ruiter
9 Threat Assessment in Homicide/Suicide: The Duty to Warn 186
Nancy Kaser-Boyd
10 Mistakes or Malpractice: Ethics in the Practice of Forensic
Psychological Assessment 214
Corine de Ruiter and Nancy Kaser-Boyd
11 Forensic Report Writing: The Science and the Story 237
Corine de Ruiter and Nancy Kaser-Boyd
12 Providing Effective Expert Testimony 266
Nancy Kaser-Boyd and Corine de Ruiter
Index 291
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Corine de Ruiter, PhD is Professor of Forensic Psychology at Maastricht
University, The Netherlands. Previously, she worked as Head of the Research
Department of the Van der Hoevenkliniek, Forensic Psychiatric Centre in
Utrecht, and as endowed Professor of Forensic Psychology at the University of
Amsterdam. She also maintains a private forensic clinical practice through which
she provides postgraduate training and consulting in forensic mental health issues,
and works as an expert in criminal and civil cases.
Her research interests include the relationship between mental disorder and
violence, prevention of child abuse, risk and protective factors for violence, and
treatment of antisocial behavior in children, adolescents, and adults. She has
authored more than 200 book chapters and peer reviewed articles. In addition,
Dr. de Ruiter has served as Associate Editor of the International Journal of Forensic
Mental Health, and she is currently Past President of the International Association
of Forensic Mental Health Services. She is a Fellow of the Society for Personality
Assessment.
Together with her colleagues, she started a 2-year clinical-forensic psychology
Master’s program at Maastricht University in 2010. She teaches graduate courses
in forensic psychological assessment in criminal and family law. Website:
www.corinederuiter.eu.
Nancy Kaser-Boyd, PhD is Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and
Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where
she teaches advanced psychological assessment and violence risk management and
supervises selected psychological assessments of inpatients and outpatients. She is
a Fellow of the Society for Personality Assessment and a Diplomate of the American
Board of Assessment Psychology. Dr. Kaser-Boyd completed her pre-doctoral
viii About the Authors
clinical internship at LAC/USC County Hospital, and a Postdoctoral Fellowship
in Psychology and the Law at the University of Southern California Institute of
Psychiatry and Law. She was the director of clinical training at Ingleside Psychiatric
Hospital. She is a member of the Psychiatric Expert Panel of Los Angeles County
in Criminal Court, evaluating defendants on behalf of the Court, the prosecution,
and the defense. She also serves on the Psychiatric Expert Panels in Delinquency
and Dependency Courts. She has consulted on criminal cases in state and federal
court in California and the western United States and Hawaii. She is a consultant
to the University of Southern California Gould School of Law Post-Conviction
Justice Project and has presented guest lectures to the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation Board of Parole, California Attorneys for Criminal
Justice, and the Capital Case Defense Seminar.
Dr. Kaser-Boyd has published and lectured on women and violence, violence
risk assessment, insanity, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and adolescent maturity.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, we thank Dr. George Zimmar of Taylor & Francis for his
encouragement and patience during the years we worked on this project.
Managing to write a book like this, while maintaining a very busy academic and
professional practice, required repeated postponement of manuscript deadlines.
CdR is grateful to her partner Dr. Ferko O˝ry for unrelenting support but also
critical feedback on some of the chapters, and for allowing plenty of writing time
during summers, while vacationing on the beautiful Greek islands of Chios and
Lesvos. Lavinia Zimmermann, MSc, is thanked for her checking of references
and entering digital object identifiers (DOIs). NKB dedicates her work on this
book to her mother, Dorothy Rose Kaser, whose unfailing love gave the strength
to do difficult work and whose empathy for others and curiosity about human
behavior provided the foundation for the practice of forensic psychology.