Product Description

As in its first edition, this book offers a conceptual model for understanding the nature of legal competencies. The model is interpreted to assist mental health professionals in designing and performing assessments for legal competencies defined in criminal and civil law, and to guide research that will improve the practice of evaluations for legal competencies. A special feature is the book's evaluative review of specialized forensic assessment instruments for each of several legal competencies. Three-fourths of the 37 instruments reviewed in the second edition are new and thus were not reviewed in the first edition.

Application of the assessment model and reviews of instruments are provided for six areas of legal competence:
-Competence to Stand Trial;
-Waiver of Rights to Silence and Legal Counsel;
-Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity;
-Parenting Capacity - Determination of Child Custody;
-Guardianship and Conservatorship; and
-Competence to Consent to Treatment.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #391347 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 538 pages

Customer Reviews

Outstanding resource for all psychologists / evaluators
This book is extremely thorough yet easy to use. It came highly recommended by two very respected (well published, board certified, etc)professors I worked under as part of my clincal internship. My primary duites are not as a forensic psychologist; however, I have found in the couse of my work for an Outpatient Community Mental Health center that one can never really avoid forensic / competency issues and related evaluations. I have referred to this text often in the year since I purchased it; this book has proved invaluable. Forensic issues are increasingly prevalent in todays clinical practice; even if you are not primarily interested in forensic psychology, chances are you have or will be asked to assess competency at some point; while clinically oriented professors often offer some guidance on this matter, they often lack the epxerience / expertise to thoroughly train their students on the legal aspects of such determinations. This book provides the most relevant and accurate needed to ensure prudent and high quality. My only regret is that I did not purchase this book sooner.

Rob Metzger, Psy.D.

Excerpt of review from Book Reviews
"The first edition of this book was a classic, widely cited both for its analysis of forensic assessment instruments and for Grisso's integrative theory of forensic evaluation. With the second edition, Evaluating Competencies remains a classic. I expect that whenever a forensic psychologist of psychiatrist prepares for an advanced examination in this specialty, this book will-or should-be one of the first books reviewed."
Philip H. Witt, Ph.D.
Clinical Associate
Dept. of Psychiatry

Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey