Intellectual Disability: Criminal and Civil Forensic Issues - Paperback

by Michael Chafetz (Author)

Courts recognize that those who are involved in medico-legal proceedings have a stake in the outcome of their psychological assessment, regardless of whether they are high- or low-functioning individuals. Accounting for the validity of the evaluation in low-functioning examinees is frequently
made more difficult by impairment; when evaluating testimony from people with intellectual disability (ID), neuropsychologists and psychologists must acknowledge the differences between the medico-legal evaluation and the clinical evaluation. This book provides helpful guidelines for assessing
validity in low-functioning claimants. It charts recent advances in psychological and neuropsychological assessment pertaining to civil and criminal proceedings while examining issues such as validity and motivation, assessments of disability, criminal and civil capacities, capital cases, Miranda
waiver cases, and others.

In disability cases, the Social Security Administration has had a long-standing policy that prevents neuropsychologists and psychologists from using validity instruments--yet, using this book, an accurate and valid assessment can still be obtained. Evaluators who perform assessments in capital cases
will find up-to-date discussions of the Flynn Effect, measurement of intellectual functioning, problems associated with the assessment of adaptive functioning, and the challenge of validity assessment. Miranda waiver evaluations for those with low IQ are discussed concerning issues of capacity
measurement, including reading and language analysis for the Miranda advisement in the particular jurisdiction in question. Testamentary capacity is discussed at length, showing how understanding of the legal standard is helpful in guiding the examination. Competency to stand trial, or adjudicative
competence, is the main topic in the area of criminal competencies, with exploration of the Dusky standard and the various tests used to evaluate this competence, focusing on individuals with ID.

Author Biography

Dr. Michael Chafetz is a Board Certified Clinical Neuropsychologist whose research focuses on the validity of Social Security Disability examinations. His work has been instrumental in changing the nature of the psychological consultative examination for Social Security disability, particularly involving the analysis of validity in low-IQ examinations. Dr. Chafetz was recognized as the Distinguished Psychologist by the Louisiana Psychological Association in 2012, and received the Courage Community Award by the Psychology Times in January, 2013.