Psychiatric/Psychological Injury and Law: Introduction

Civil Forensic Evaluation in Psychological Injury and Law: Legal, Professional, and Ethical Considerations

“…That is, the expert testifies that on the balance of probabilities, more likely than not, the proffered responses to the referral questions are in the indicated direction of the opinions. The civil case arena differs from the criminal one, in which the threshold for determinations is stricter and involves proof beyond a reasonable doubt (Young, 2016a).…”

“…In this article, we examine the legal, ethical, and professional issues relevant to each step in the process of dealing with psychological injury cases. In these regards, we use as guidance the American Psychological Association (APA) Ethical Principles and Professional Code of Conduct (EPPCC) (APA, 2017) and the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology (SGFP) (APA, 2013), which are sources that provide not only fundamental ethical standards as they apply to forensic work, but also specific guidance about how those principles should be applied in psychology and law settings, including those in the area of psychological injury and law (Borkosky, 2014;Pirelli, Beattey, & Zapf, 2017;Young, 2014aYoung, , 2016aYoung & Drogin, 2014). The SGFP is an aspirational document designed to provide a measure of "best practices" for forensic practitioners.…”

“…Furthermore, the area of psychological injury and law is growing, integrating, and attracting new practitioners to the field, as indexed by the increasing number of recent books and journal articles on the topic (e.g., Rogers & Bender, 2018;Young, 2014) and the articles in this journal Psychological Injury and Law, including those that are legally oriented, e.g., Kohutis & McCall, 2020) Although procedures in the assessment of defendants might differ in federal or state court and related settings, the parameters of those types of evaluations have been well-delineated (e.g., Drogin, Dattilio, Sadoff, & Gutheil, 2011;Melton et al, 2018). In contrast, although psychologists and other mental health practitioners have been consulting and testifying in civil cases for many years, it is only recently that mental health professionals have published guidance on the provision of these services, including guidance on assessment and testing (Foote, 2020;Foote & Goodman-Delahunty, in press;Foote & Lareau, 2013;Gold, 2004;Gold & Stejskal, 2011;Goodman-Delahunty, 1999;Goodman-Delahunty & Foote, 2013;Kane & Dvoskin, 2011;Rogers & Bender, 2018;Young, 2008;Young, 2014a;Young, 2016a;Young & Drogin, 2014). Other articles in the field are specific to particular psychological injuries in court and related legal settings, e.g., PTSD (see Young, 2016b, 2017a, 2017b, and Kerig, Mozley, & Mendez, 2020 or forensic and courtrelated themes, such as causality (Young, 2015), malingering, and malingering detection (e.g., Sherman, Slick, & Iverson, 2020;Slick, Sherman, & Iverson, 1999;Young, 2015a).…”