Ethical Principles and the Communication of Forensic Mental Health Assessments

Allan, Alfred; Grisso, Thomas

doi:10.1080/10508422.2014.880346

Cited by 17 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Report writing skills are standard requirements for a psychologist. However, forensic reports differ from clinical reports in structure, content, and style (Allan & Grisso, 2014). Forensic reports must focus on the legal issue and clearly and comprehensively demonstrate the links between the data obtained and the conclusions and opinions expressed (Packer, 2008).…”

Section: Forensic Evaluation Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to respect the privacy of the young person, the evaluator should not seek or report information that is not relevant to the legal question, or that could be prejudicial (either against or in favour of the examinee) (Allan & Grisso, 2014;Heilbrun, 2001;Hoge, 2012).…”

Section: Ethical Guidelinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Forensic evaluators have a responsibility to be truthful and accurate (Allan & Grisso, 2014) and avoid discrimination (i.e., bias) and to promote equity (APS, 2007). Care must be taken that the evaluation methods used (e.g., forensic interview methods, selection of tests) and the written report are also objective and free of bias (Conroy, 2006).…”

Section: Ethical Guidelinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Psychological pre‐sentence evaluations for sentencing young offenders in Australia

Bycroft

Dear

Drake

2020

Australian Psychologist

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Objective Drawing upon extant Australian and International literature we sought to identify the skills and knowledge psychologists require to competently evaluate Australian young offenders for sentencing. We also sought to identify the key ethical and methodological issues that Australian psychologists should be aware of before commencing a forensic evaluation of a young offender. Method Using search terms “expert witness, pre‐sentence report, pre‐sentence report, forensic mental health assessment, Forensic Mental Health Assessment, forensic assessment, methodology, forensic model, and sentencing juveniles” we searched for peer reviewed articles published between the years 2000–2018 on the PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, and ProQuest data bases. Results Drawing upon available literature we identified the knowledge and skills required for evaluations and the ethical standards available to help guide the evaluation. Due to the lack of Australian research in this area, we had to rely on international literature regarding recommended evaluation methods. There is no clear statement on what the psychology profession in Australia believes is an appropriate evaluation methodology and what content is required in a pre‐sentence report. There is no specific data clarifying what Australian judicial officers find helpful in pre‐sentence reports. Conclusions Our article highlights the need for further research into Australian evaluation methodology for pre‐sentence reports, and the need for professional standards and guidelines specific to Australian jurisdictions.

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Section: Forensic Evaluation Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ethical Guidelinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ethical Guidelinesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Psychological pre‐sentence evaluations for sentencing young offenders in Australia

Bycroft

Dear

Drake

2020

Australian Psychologist

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“…The first three refer to science/scientific judgments and scientific responsibilities (see Table 1). In 2014, Allan and Grisso [38] noted, though, that ''principlism'' is not the only approach to ethics [39].…”

Section: Psychological Ethicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A broad ethics model for mental health practice

Young

2016

Ethics, Medicine and Public Health

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“…Authors (see, e.g., Allan, 2013Allan, , 2015Allan, , 2017Allan & Grisso, 2014) argue that the veracity (accurate and transparent) and procedural justice (fair) ethical principles require practitioners to use reliable data collection methods. The care principle further obliges practitioners to take reasonable steps to prevent reasonably foreseeable harm, and they must therefore provide information to courts regarding the limitations of their methods and data.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Risk of Australian Indigenous Sexual Offenders Reoffending: A Review of the Research Literature and Court Decisions

Allan

Parry

Ferrante

et al. 2018

Psychiatry, Psychology and Law

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The assessment of offenders' risk of reoffending, particularly sexual reoffending, is a core activity of forensic mental health practitioners. The purpose of these assessments is to reduce the risk of harm to the public, but they are controversial and become more contentious when Australian practitioners who want to undertake such assessments in an ethically responsible way must use reliable validated instruments, disclose the limitations of their assessment methods, instruments and data to judicial decision-makers and understand how decision-makers might use their reports. The purpose of this systematic literature review was to explore the practices of Australian practitioners and courts in respect of the assessment of Australian Indigenous male sexual offenders' risk of reoffending. We could not identify an instrument that has been developed for the assessment of this population group. Australian courts differ in whether they admit and give weight to practitioners' evidence and opinions based on data obtained with non-validated instruments. We could only identify three possible predictor variables with enough quantitative support to justify including them in an instrument that could be used to assess Indigenous sexual offenders. There is a need for research regarding the validity of the instruments that practitioners use.

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Ethical Principles and the Communication of Forensic Mental Health Assessments

Cited by 17 publications

References 18 publications

Psychological pre‐sentence evaluations for sentencing young offenders in Australia

Psychological pre‐sentence evaluations for sentencing young offenders in Australia

A broad ethics model for mental health practice

Assessing the Risk of Australian Indigenous Sexual Offenders Reoffending: A Review of the Research Literature and Court Decisions

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