Practitioners conducting interpersonal violence forensic evaluations.

Abstract

Practitioners are often asked to assess battered women (BW) to form opinions about how their history of victimization may have implications for their mental status. In addition to assessment for treatment plans, opinions can be offered for criminal responsibility, diminished capacity, extreme emotional disturbances, resentencing, affixing the nexus between domestic violence (DV) and personal injury, or impact on access to children during family law disputes among other legal cases. While evaluations of BW and its effects are not uncommon, there is a lack of research and recommended practices for these evaluations, especially when knowledgeable psychotherapists want to perform forensic evaluations. This article aims to provide anecdotal accounts of practices for BW evaluations, specifically related to psychological assessment tools and brief report writing. In BW evaluations for forensic cases, special attention is important in preparing for the evaluation (i.e., agreements with retaining parties, review of collateral documentation) as well as a thorough explanation of informed consent and confidentiality. The mental status examination and behavioral observations are important to integrate with other data points. The authors discuss recommendations and relevant research for specific assessment tools to evaluate personality, emotional, and cognitive functioning, as well as trauma inventories. Finally, brief considerations are noted for report writing that specifically includes comprehensive discussion of interpersonal functioning, writing in a manner that conveys the BW.

Special issue on forensic practice.

“…New areas of practice are illustrated by the article on treatment programs for exonerees (Heilbrun et al, 2022), collaborative divorce (Cole et al, 2023), and problems encountered when deaf individuals need to interact with the criminal justice system (Feldman et al, 2023). Articles dealing with battered woman syndrome (Walker et al, 2022), decision-making in competency issues (Otto, 2022), and the use of new technologies in child and adolescent forensic evaluations (Kennedy et al, 2023), all illustrate innovative approaches to some of the more foundational areas of practice.…”