Book Section: Essay and Review: Getting Started in Forensic Psychology Practice: How to Create a Forensic Specialty in Your Mental Health Practice

Abstract

The number of Americans receiving institutional psychiatric care has decreased by the hundreds of thousands since deinstitutionalization in the 1960s. However, according to the President's New Freedom Commission, the community mental health system's inability to care for those released has led to rising incarceration of the mentally ill (Human Rights Watch, 2003). This has increased psychologists' involvement with courts, jails, and prisons, which have surpassed the Veterans Administration system as the largest employers of psychologists. These changes have led psychologists into increased contact with the legal system-that is, into forensic psychology practice.