III. Assessment,Referral and Treatment

Each court must have access to a complete range of services for effective screening, identification, assessment, evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation. Such services may be developed within the court operation or in cooperation with related agencies or through contracted service providers. Many jurisdictions will use a combination of these basic approaches for provision of services. However they are organized, the key is that they must be in place and consistently used.     

Call for Papers: Advances in Assessment and Treatment of Forensic Populations

Law and Human Behavior -     

Ontario Psychological Association Guidelines for Assessment and Treatment in Auto Insurance Claims

The Ontario Psychological Association Guidelines for Assessment and Treatment in Auto Insurance Claims was published on the Ontario Psychological Association website in July, 2010 (Smith, A., and OPA Auto Task Force, 2010, Ontario Psychological Association Guidelines for Assessment and Treatment in Auto Insurance Claims. Ontario Psychological Association, Toronto, Ontario. Retrieved from http://www.psych.on.ca/files/members/OPA_Auto_Practice_Guidelines_July292010_July_30_2010.pdf). Excerpts are reproduced in the journal because of the comprehensive nature of the document. To our knowledge, this is the first time that state or provincial guidelines have included all the major psychological diagnoses in rehabilitation work with motor vehicle accident survivors (chronic pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, depression). Space limitations preclude publishing of the full document, but it should be consulted. The present excerpt focuses on the nature of the psychological injuries and the best practices in treating them, along with cautions for assessment, comorbidities and polytrauma, litigation distress and barriers and complications in recovery.     

Call for Papers: Advances in Assessment and Treatment of Forensic Populations

Law and Human Behavior -     

Advances in Forensic Assessment and Treatment: An Overview and Introduction to the Special Issue

Law and Human Behavior -     

The Alabama Structured Assessment of Treatment Completion for insanity acquittes (The AlaSATcom)

The most complex and risky decisions made by forensic psychiatrists revolve around the decision to release insanity acquittes from custody. This decision has several levels of risk, including the potential liability to the psychiatrist as well as the possible risk to the community. A single bad outcome, even if not predictable, can have disastrous results, not only for victims, but also for the releasing facility. Since predicting violence has so many problems, we chose to look at completeness of treatment instead, so we could say to the Court, "We don't know about violence, but we do know that he has vastly improved." Since many NGRI (Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity) patients spend years in the hospital, they are also expensive. They have rights, as well; therefore the complex assessment must be done as quickly and as accurately as possible. We have developed a spread sheet program to compare these multiple factors, and have compared it against the clinical decisions we have made in more than 100 discharges. We believe this gives a framework for decision-making that will increase the consistency of this process.     

Prospective and Retrospective Exposure Assessment

Though prospective regulatory exposure assessment and retrospective forensic exposure reconstruction rely on the same tools, they have a very different focus, require a distinct approach, and depend on different types of data. Inappropriate application of prospective regulatory exposure assessment methods to forensic exposure reconstruction can result in exposure estimates that differ significantly from actual historical exposures. This article compares prospective exposure assessment and forensic exposure reconstruction, with the goal of describing their distinctive focuses (e.g., population-based versus individual-based) and data needs.     

Examination of Illicit Drug Use Frequency Using Multiple Drug Assessment Methods in Mothers Referred to Treatment by Child Protective Services

It has long been established that illicit drug use contributes to child maltreatment. However, investigators have yet to comprehensively examine illicit drug use in mothers referred to treatment by Child Protective Services (CPS). In this study, 77 mothers who were referred to treatment by CPS for co-existing drug abuse and child neglect were administered the Timeline Follow-Back measure to assess their substance use frequency during the four months preceding treatment. Reports of the mothers’ substance use were obtained for the same time period from the mothers’ significant others and CPS caseworkers, and mothers were administered urinalysis testing. The purpose of this study was to examine the concordance of these multiple reports, and identify unique predictors of different drug use reporting patterns. The practice of using urinalysis results as a prompt during the mothers’ Timeline Follow-Back administration may have contributed to greater frequency of drug use reporting in mothers. Mothers reported progressively more drug use for more distant time periods, as compared with caseworkers. Findings also suggested mothers’ reports of drug use were influenced by CPS investigatory case status (i.e., open or closed), ethnicity, and defensive responding. Implications of these findings for clinical practice and future research are discussed.     

椎间盘突出症及其法医学鉴定

椎间盘突出症的原因复杂,损伤、遗传因素、肥胖、椎间盘自身的退行性变等均可成为椎间盘突出的病因。损伤可以直接导致椎间盘的慢性或急性破坏,引起椎间盘突出,也可以在原有椎间盘退变的基础上导致椎间盘突出。在法医学鉴定中,通过仔细分析被鉴定人的年龄和职业特点、受伤方式、伤后症状和体征,结合影像学检查结果等,可对其是否存在外伤性椎间盘突出作出准确的判断。疑为陈旧性椎间盘突出的,也可通过对病史的调查及影像学检查进一步加以甄别。     

医疗行为过失的判定

界定医疗纠纷民事诉讼中医疗行为过失的概念,并探讨判定医疗行为过失诸多因素。是否构成医疗过失是司法部门处理医疗纠纷的重要依据,认定医疗行为过失的主要途经是通过医疗纠纷技术鉴定,当前对医疗行为过失的认定尚需进一步的完善,以适应目前对医疗过失的判定。     

WTO与国民待遇

本文阐述了WTO与国民待遇的关系 ,并着重论述应尽快依法保护民营企业发展 ,增强我国经济竞争力 ,以迎接入世后的外贸挑战。     

知识产权战略实施的综合评价指数

通过综合评价的基本方法的介绍,根据我国知识产权战略实施的主要目的、途径和效果,提出了知识产权战略实施评价的基本思路,设计了一套适应我国现阶段知识产权战略实施效果综合评价的指标体系.     

司法经济鉴定刍议

如何判断、核定经济鉴定的主体,正确搜集处理经济鉴定证据、准确合理出具鉴定结论、把握鉴定报告格式要点,都是进行司法经济鉴定需要解决的事项。     

Assessment of Stress and Resiliency in Emergency Dispatchers

Although they are technically the first responders on most critical incidents, emergency dispatchers have received a modicum of attention from researchers and clinicians. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate job-related stress, psychological distress, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), stress resiliency, and posttraumatic growth in this high-risk group. These areas were evaluated via an assessment battery administered to 90 emergency dispatchers working in a law enforcement agency. Results showed that dispatchers experienced an average amount of occupational stress, with 24% of the current sample reporting significant job stress. Between 13.34 and 15.56% reported symptoms consistent with a PTSD diagnosis, and 16.67% indicated sub-threshold PTSD symptomatology. The findings revealed that, overall, dispatchers experience occupational stress, psychological distress, and sub-threshold PTSD at similar or higher rates compared to police officers. Further, dispatchers reported posttraumatic growth at an average rate, also similar to that reported by police officers. Clinical implications of the results are discussed. Suggestions for directions that future research might take are offered.     

关于《道路交通事故受伤人员伤残评定》中若干技术难题的处理办法(上)

由于《道路交通事故受伤人员伤残评定》中许多条文的规定比较笼统和原则,在理解和掌握上尚有一定的困难。为此,作者参考国家有关鉴定标准和临床医学有关器官功能障碍分级方法,并结合作者在伤残评定中所积累的经验,提出有关评定标准的细则,旨在推动鉴定工作的统一和规范,确保鉴定结论的公正和科学。     

Needs Assessment and Services for Drug-Abusing Women Offenders

The debate over the abortion law resurfaced in Italy in 1988 after seven years of silence. Unlike the debate in 1981, in 1988 the feminist front was more diversified and abortion was discussed in ethical terms rather than in social and political terms. This paper describes and discusses the current debate on abortion by making reference mainly to the feminists' positions.