Quality of criminal responsibility reports submitted to the Hawaii judiciary

This paper is the third in a series of research reports on quality of forensic mental health evaluations submitted to the Hawaii judiciary. Previous studies examined quality of reports assessing competency to stand trial (CST) and post-acquittal conditional release, in felony defendants undergoing court-ordered examinations. Utilizing a 44-item quality coding instrument, this study examined quality of criminal responsibility reports in a sample of 150 forensic mental health evaluations conducted between 2006 and 2010 by court-appointed panels. Raters attained high levels of agreement in training and quality coding. Similar to the previous studies, overall quality of reports was mediocre, falling below the .80 quality criterion score for report elements, regardless of evaluator professional identification or employment status. Level of agreement between evaluators and judicial sanity determinations was “fair” using Cicchetti's (1994) standards for interpretation of intra-class correlations. Level of agreement was lower than previously published findings for CST reports and better than conditional release reports. Reasons for mediocre report quality and “fair” inter-rater agreement are discussed, including the fact that criminal responsibility evaluations are complex, retrospective in nature, and involve significant degrees of inference. In contrast to CST evaluations, assessment of criminal responsibility involves a mental state at the time of the offense evaluation. Threats to reliability in forensic reports are discussed. Suggestions for improvement of report quality are proffered, including standardization of procedures and report format and use of forensic assessment instruments.     

对邱兴华杀人案的司法鉴定学反思

关于邱兴华杀人案（下称邱案）的各种学术讨论和争论似乎已经不少，但查阅文献发现，有关邱案的文章，分别是从刑事诉讼法学、刑事证据学、刑事心理学、精神医学角度，法制新闻学以及从人权保护，法治进步等角度对该案进行解读。然而既然这是一个涉及司法鉴定的个案（虽然实际上并没有进行任何实质性鉴定活动），那么从司法鉴定学的角度对与该案有关的几个最基本的问题进行理论阐述，或许能有些许不同的作用。这几个问题包括：精神病概念的辨析，是否患病与是否需要接受刑事处罚之间是什么关系，何时需要启动司法精神医学鉴定？应如何配置我国刑事诉讼中的司法精神医学鉴定启动模式？     

时代呼唤统一的刑事责任能力鉴定标准

阐述了我国制定《精神障碍者刑事责任能力评定大纲》必要性、可行性和历史意义,对如何统一精神疾病刑事责任能力鉴定的评定标准,如何有利于同行专家和司法机关对司法精神病学鉴定结论可采信性的审查提出见解。     

Feedback on Forensic Mental Health Assessments in a Juvenile Court Clinic Certification Program

Public-sector mental health systems have set forth specialized practice competencies for forensic mental health clinicians conducting court-ordered examinations. This study examined a sample of feedback letters to clinicians who submitted mid-training and final reports for review as part of the requirements for certification as a juvenile court clinician. The most common feedback points were insufficient/irrelevant historical data, problems with clarity/organization of the report, problems with interview/mental status examination, and problems with competency to stand trial data/opinions. Clinicians had fewer deficiencies in their final report compared to their mid-training report, supporting the perspective that forensic training and supervision is associated with better quality reports.     

Criminal offense, psychiatric diagnosis, and psycholegal opinion: an analysis of 894 pretrial referrals

This article presents the results of a study of 894 criminal defendants referred by Virginia courts for evaluation of competency to stand trial or criminal responsibility. All evaluations were conducted on an outpatient basis by mental health professionals who had received specialized training in forensic evaluation. Findings as to the referral questions posed, the criminal offenses charged, and the clinical diagnoses and psycholegal opinions offered by the evaluators are described. Statistical analyses demonstrate significant relationships between both diagnosis and criminal charge and the psycholegal opinion rendered.     

The use of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) in assessing offenders

The intersection between the legal and mental health professions is sometimes marked by controversy, and the application of psychological assessments to forensic issues is no exception. However, the field of psychological assessment holds particular promise for clarifying decision making within the forensic arena, as it can bring a particularly well-established body of theory and data to bear upon clinical forensic practice. This article describes one psychometric instrument, the Personality Assessment Inventory, as an example of how particular assessment instruments can help inform this process.     

Forensic psychiatry in China

This article reviews the legal basis for the development of forensic psychiatry in China, the organization of clinical assessments, and training of forensic psychiatrists. Regulations for the management of patients in Ankang hospitals and the role of forensic psychiatrists within the Criminal Justice system are described. The primary role of forensic psychiatrists is to provide expert opinions on competence to stand trial and criminal responsibility in criminal cases. They are increasingly involved in civil court proceedings and tribunals at the request of a range of official agencies. The clinical cases assessed by Chinese forensic psychiatrists are very similar to those of their counterparts in Western countries, but the organizational and legal framework for these assessments reflects a very different system that has evolved independently.     

Massively parallel sequencing and the emergence of forensic genomics: Defining the policy and legal issues for law enforcement

Use of DNA in forensic science will be significantly influenced by new technology in coming years. Massively parallel sequencing and forensic genomics will hasten the broadening of forensic DNA analysis beyond short tandem repeats for identity towards a wider array of genetic markers, in applications as diverse as predictive phenotyping, ancestry assignment, and full mitochondrial genome analysis. With these new applications come a range of legal and policy implications, as forensic science touches on areas as diverse as ‘big data’, privacy and protected health information. Although these applications have the potential to make a more immediate and decisive forensic intelligence contribution to criminal investigations, they raise policy issues that will require detailed consideration if this potential is to be realised. The purpose of this paper is to identify the scope of the issues that will confront forensic and user communities.     

论刑事法律在西藏的变通实施

西藏作为一个少数民族聚居地区，其民族刑事习俗不可避免地影响和制约着刑事立法、司法和民族刑事政策的制定，致使基层司法人员在习惯与规则的边缘如履薄冰。在坚持刑事法制统一和充分尊重少数民族风俗习惯及生产、生活方式原则的前提下，进行刑事法律变通，是解决藏民族刑事习俗与刑法间冲突的有效径路，也是我国社会主义法治精神的重要体现。     

新冠肺炎疫情下司法精神医学鉴定的应对

新冠肺炎疫情已被公认为全球性重大挑战。已经、正在,同时仍将对人类社会的诸多方面产生深远的影响。新冠肺炎疫情下司法精神医学鉴定面临诸多挑战,通过梳理疫情下已实施的有关司法鉴定方面的做法、经验,分析涉疫情主要犯罪类型,开展司法精神医学远程鉴定具有必要性和可行性。但应关注其局限性,实施之前应制定相应的操作规范。     

Psychological Injury and Law: Defining a Field

This article elaborates definitional and conceptual issues relevant to the field of psychological injury and law. It reviews the literature in the major areas that mark the field—law, forensic psychology, disability, and assessment/malingering. To meet admissibility requirements of testimony in court, psychologists and other mental health professionals need to maintain a comprehensive, impartial, and scientifically informed approach to assessments based on a state-of-the-art knowledge, such as made available in this journal.     

损伤导致精神损伤程度评定标准的研究

目的探讨损伤导致精神障碍损伤程度评定标准。方法受理的297例损伤导致精神障碍损伤程度的法医学鉴定资料进行回顾性研究。结果297例中,重伤91例,轻伤93例,轻微伤44例,伤病关系评定69例。结论通过对297例精神损伤程度司法鉴定的分析,提出了具体的可操作性强的评定标准,以期在实践中进一步完善。     

The role of psychological testing in forensic assessment

Despite the apparent widespread use of psychological tests in evaluations performed by psychologists to assist legal decision makers, there has been little critical but balanced examination of the appropriate parameters for the forensic use of such tests. The following discussion examines the nature of legal decision making, and concludes that the primary legal criterion for the adminissibility of psychological testing isrelevance to the immediate legal issue or to some underlying psychological construct. Assuming thataccuracy is a more consistent concern for psychologists performing such evaluations, the criticisms of various commentators are discussed. Some criticisms appear appropriate and are incorporated into a set of proposed guidelines for the use of psychological tests in forensic contexts. Other criticisms appear misplaced, however, and the call for a whole sale ban on psychological testing in the forensic context is rejected.     

再议毒品所致精神障碍者的刑事责任能力评定

我国法律并未直接规定毒品所致精神障碍者的刑事责任问题,国内法学界和司法精神病学界对此问题仍分歧众多。争论的焦点主要集中在吸毒者陷于辨认或控制能力丧失状态下实施危害行为时该如何评定其刑事责任能力上。从法律的角度来探讨毒品所致精神障碍者的刑事责任能力评定。主张目前实践中司法鉴定人员结合吸毒者的心理态度来评定其刑事责任能力缺乏法律依据,也不适宜对案件的处理,因此不宜由司法鉴定人员以精神病学的角度来认定毒品所致精神障碍者的刑事责任能力。     

Interdisciplinary approaches to the teaching of forensic science in the Forensic Science Undergraduate Program of the National Autonomous University of Mexico,before and after COVID-19

In 2013, the Forensic Science Undergraduate Program (FSUP) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico was created in response to an alarming criminal situation in Mexico, as well as to the radical reform of its criminal justice system. Its mission is to educate and train ethical, critical, and humanistic forensic scientists capable of conducting inquiries that meet scientific quality standards and assist the justice system in firmly linking legal rulings to the available evidence. At the time, it was the first such program in the country, and the contributions that interdisciplinary forensic scientists could make to criminal investigations were largely unknown among forensic and legal practitioners. During its existence, providing an interdisciplinary, competence-based education to students has been one of the main challenges. To overcome it, teaching and assessment approaches—centered on the achievement of specifically forensic competencies as learning outcomes and the integration of forensic disciplines towards the resolution of simulated cases—have been devised to help develop the professional skill set expected of graduates. The COVID-19 pandemic led to adapting these approaches to distance or hybrid modes of learning, increasing their versatility and enriching the pedagogic repertoire of the FSUP. Currently, the main impact of the program lies in the successful incorporation of some of its graduates to agencies belonging to or related to the criminal justice system, such as the National Prosecutor’s Office, the Commission for Truth and Justice for the Ayotzinapa Case, and the National Commission for the Search of Missing and Disappeared Persons, among others.     

A forensic visual aid: Traces versus knowledge

In this paper, I introduce the Forensic Field Map (FFM) that provides a two-dimensional view on the forensic field. This field is by definition very broad, encompassing a wide range of scientific areas and activities. The forensic work that supports solving criminal cases ranges from recognizing and preserving traces at crime scenes to explaining forensic results as expert witness in court. This goes hand in hand with the development of scientifically based methods and tooling as well as legal, forensic and laboratory procedures. Although the FFM came into being while developing a (visual) framework for digital forensic investigations, the framework turned out to be generically applicable to other forensic disciplines.     

Freedom in paradise: quality of conditional release reports submitted to the Hawaii judiciary

Annually thousands of insanity acquitees are released from mental hospitals when they are no longer determined to be dangerous. This research examined quality of post-acquittal Conditional Release (CR) reports submitted to the Hawaii Judiciary. Hawaii utilizes a “three panel” system for assessing trial felony competency, criminal responsibility, and conditional release, where typically two psychologists (one Department of Health and one community-based) and one community-based psychiatrist submit independent reports to the Court. One hundred fifty CR reports were rated using a 44-item report quality measure. Interrater reliability trials indicated good to excellent agreement between quality ratings. Overall level of report quality was poor regardless of examiners' professional discipline, employer, or board certification status. Concordance rates for CR opinions were poor. Level of agreement between the judicial determination and majority recommendations was also poor. Reasons for the poor quality and level of agreement are discussed with recommendations for report quality improvement, including standardization of procedures and use of forensic risk assessment instruments.     

210例司法精神病学鉴定案例分析

作者对210例司法精神病学鉴定案例进行分析。该组刑事案例以凶杀居首位,被鉴定人以患精神分裂症为多。鉴定结论评为无责任能力者占41.6％。案件中受害者以精神发育迟缓、正处于发病期的精神分裂症或情感性精神病的女性患者(78.4％)被奸污为多。经随访司法部门的最后处理结果和我们的鉴定结论意见较为一致。     

司法精神病鉴定基本问题研究

近年来我国刑事司法实践中曝光的若干典型个案凸显精神病鉴定的混乱状况。实证调研发现,精神病鉴定自身的特征——对象的复杂性、过程的回溯性、知识背景的跨学科性、手段的有限性与结论的主观性,影响到其客观性与可信度。目前精神病鉴定存在的问题主要包括启动难、鉴定过程中医学与法学学科错位、诉讼权利保障机制欠缺、强制医疗制度带有行政化特征以及鉴定体制改革引发的问题。应当在坚持职权主义启动模式的基础上,对部分死刑案件增设强制启动机制,增设申请启动鉴定的上诉途径,细化启动考量标准;司法精神病专家与法律职业群体之间应当重新分工;应当增设被鉴定人由于鉴定导致人身自由被剥夺的法定强制措施以及在专家辅助人的帮助下对鉴定意见的质证权;强制医疗程序应当进行司法化改造并通过社会化途径加强执行能力;在鉴定管理体制上,应当取消现有鉴定主体限于医院的规定,恢复等级化的体系设置并建立鉴定人准入与培养机制。     

What can we learn from the first community-based epidemiological study on stalking in Germany?

There is a lack of community-based studies on prevalence rates of stalking and the impact of stalking on victims in continental European countries. The authors published the first community-based epidemiological study on stalking in Germany. The purpose of this paper is to discuss possible implications of these epidemiological data for the mental health system, forensic psychiatry and legal regulations in Germany. For these reasons some data of our epidemiological study are outlined and reanalyzed. To examine lifetime and point prevalence rates of stalking, behavioural and psychological consequences for victims and the impact of stalking on current psychological well-being in a German community sample, a postal survey was conducted with 2000 inhabitants randomly selected from Mannheim (response rate 34.2%, n=679). The survey included a stalking questionnaire and the WHO-5 well-being scale. Almost 12% of the respondents reported having been stalked. This study identified a high lifetime prevalence of stalking in the community. Effects on victims' psychological health were significant and there was a high rate of physical (31%) and sexual (19%) violence in the context of stalking. Our data suggest that the phenomenon deserves more attention in future forensic psychiatric research and practice. Implications for forensic psychiatric assessment and treatment of stalkers as well as for management of stalking victims are discussed.