A Practical Guide to Conducting VA Compensation and Pension Exams for PTSD and Other Mental Disorders

Despite being one of the most common forensic mental health evaluations, no article has ever appeared in a peer-reviewed journal describing how to conduct US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) mental health compensation and pension examinations. This article rectifies that paucity of information. We outline the legal framework, ethical considerations, and administrative challenges inherent in these evaluations. We provide separate guidelines for private practice clinicians and VA staff or contractors. We pay special attention to the multiple sources of collateral information available for these exams and how to access relevant records. The article alerts examiners to the possibility that they might face resistance from VA officials if they screen for and assess symptom exaggeration or feigning and that they could encounter VA-imposed restrictions on time allotted for exams. Specific suggestions are made for different types of exams: Initial Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), PTSD Review, Initial Mental Disorder, and Mental Disorder Review.     

死亡赔偿制度的嬗变及反思——以死亡赔偿金及精神抚慰金为视角

死亡赔偿制度是侵权法的重要制度,如何处理好死亡赔偿金和精神抚慰金的赔偿问题也一直是人们争论不休的论题。犯罪行为致人死亡,是否应予赔偿以及如何赔偿是一个兼具理论和现实意义的问题。现行立法和司法将其区别于一般侵权赔偿。死亡赔偿金和精神抚慰金被排斥在死亡赔偿范围之外是基于“立法无明文规定、刑事责任可以替代民事责任、死亡赔偿“执行难”等理由。我们应当通过民事诉讼支持精神抚慰金,以此弥补刑事诉讼中的非刑罚处理方法和附带民事诉讼物质损失赔偿对被害人权利救济的不足;同时,立法上将精神损害赔偿引入附带民事诉讼,方能消弭相关法律冲突。死亡赔偿“执行难”实质是一个在司法环节暴露出来的社会问题,彻底解决这一问题有待于国家救助制度的最终建立。     

Mental Health Court Outcomes: A Comparison of Re-Arrest and Re-Arrest Severity Between Mental Health Court and Traditional Court Participants

Mental health courts have been proliferating across the country since their establishment in the late 1990's. Although numerous advocates have proclaimed their merit, only few empirical studies have evaluated their outcomes. This paper evaluates the effect of one mental health court on criminal justice outcomes by examining arrests and offense severity from one year before to one year after entry into the court, and by comparing mental health court participants to comparable traditional criminal court defendants on these measures. Multivariate models support the prediction that mental health courts reduce the number of new arrests and the severity of such re-arrests among mentally ill offenders. Similar analysis of mental health court completers and non-completers supports the prediction that a "full dose" of mental health treatment and court monitoring produce even fewer re-arrests.     

论物的损坏与精神损害赔偿的关联--一种功能主义的诠释

在“物”具有情感寄托功能和人身象征功能的基础上 ,精神损害赔偿机制仅仅适用于人身权受侵害的情形显然不当 ,为了保持民法制度功能的协调 ,为了实现民法最大化保护人之利益的功能 ,民法应当在物的损坏与精神损害赔偿之间建立关联。不过 ,出于法律确定性的需要 ,此处的“物”应当是所有权的客体 ,而且其具备的上述两个功能应当得到生活世界公众的普遍认可     

Compatibility Between Mental Disorder and Mental Capacity: Analysis of a Particular Case of Group Sexual Homicide

Abstract: On the night of August 19, 2000, at the foot of Castel del Monte, an 8‐year‐old girl was brutally murdered. The perpetrators were identified as five young men who captured their victim and sexually abused her. The policemen found the cadaver by following “Mario,” one of the five, who had been discovered lying on the ground, near the castle. Investigation led to demonstrate that the murder was not premeditated. The only desire of the group was to sexually molest the little girl. Mario showed signs of psychiatric pathology and for that he underwent psychiatric evaluation by judicial authorities. Analysis of this case, combined with a criminological and medical‐legal perspective led to conclusions very much different from the expectations of Mario’s defense attorneys. Mario, a marginal figure and seemingly the least intelligent, played the role of group instigator, both in the initiation of sexually abusing the child, as well as in the elimination of an inconvenient witness. However, the group was able to activate Mario’s sadistic fantasies and his sexual perversions, and he ended up in a catalyzing role influencing the behavior of others and realizing what would otherwise remain only fantasies. The circularity of the group allows people like Mario, who are apparently subordinate, to influence the behavior of others. Mario was found to have a mental disorder but it was not sufficient to diminish his personal responsibility related to the crime. In fact, according to Italian judicial code, it is necessary that the motivation for the crime was psychopathological. It was for this reason that, according to Italian law, all of the members of the group were considered to be responsible for the crimes committed and were condemned.     

Juvenile Mental Health Court: Rationale and Protocols

Under the sponsorship of the judiciary, the Santa Clara County, California Juvenile Court, in partnership with the Juvenile Mental Health Department and a technical assistance agency (SOLOMON), has pioneered a Juvenile Mental Health Court for seriously mentally ill children who have become involved in the criminal justice system. The judiciary, probation department, district attorney, public defender, county counsel, and service providers have collectively embarked upon the implementation of a modern approach to mental health diagnosis, triage, and treatment services for youth and families who come in contact with the justice system as a result of the combination of serious mental illness and juvenile delinquency. This article presents the court's rationale and protocols.     

侵权死亡赔偿的理论学说与制度设计：基于个人福利角度的分析

死亡赔偿不是对死者本身的赔偿,而是对死者近亲属的赔偿。其请求权基础是死者近亲属受到了相关的损害,立法宜采固有损害说。死者近亲属遭受的损害包括增量损失、物质损害和精神损害,都应针对个案评估相应赔偿额,用以填补受害者损害,使其恢复原有的福利水平,在立法上可采福利水平维持说。赔偿绝不能实行全民统一的赔偿额度,侵权法不应该有改善社会收入差距的冲动。     

Coexistence and Independence Between a Mental Disorder and Female Stalking*

Abstract: There are few studies of female stalkers in literature addressing different study populations. There appears to be a high incidence of mental disease among female stalkers, having an important role in inducing the harassment. We present a woman affected by a bipolar disorder who had a long affair with her victim, broken off in 2007. Stalking began in January 2009 and continued for 6 months, during which time she was not taking drugs and was in a decompensated clinical phase. In July 2009, she was denounced for harassment; the authorities demanded a psychiatric examination. The woman then resumed taking the medication regularly. In December 2009, although she was in complete remission, she began stalking once more. This case shows that even when there seems to be an evident relation between psychopathology and crime, it is always necessary to evaluate to what extent the mental disorder is responsible for the criminal behavior.     

Establishing a Relationship Between Behavior and Cognition: Violence Against Women and Children within the Family

The goal of our study is to determine whether a person’s cognitions regarding violence against women and violence against children within the family are associated with recourse to violent behavior toward them; and (2) the extent to which an adult who has a narrow conception of violence against women also has a narrow conception of, tolerant attitudes toward, and biased attributions with regard to violence toward children. Thirty men and 32 women took part in the study. Generally speaking, respondents more easily recognized physical aggression than psychological aggression, rated it more severely, and used it more often against their children than their spouses. Further, cognitions regarding violence against women and of parental violence against children appear to be strongly associated. Our results also suggest that the conception of violence toward women is associated with violence toward children.     

Mental Health Services for Incarcerated Youth: Report from a Statewide Survey

The need for mental health care has been steadily increasing for youth coming into contact with the juvenile probation system. This paper presents the results of a statewide survey of juvenile probation departments and associated mental health, health care, court, and education personnel in California. The intent of the survey was to better understand the costs and associated contexts of caring for youth with suspected mental disorders in juvenile detention facilities. The burden of caring for these youth on detention facilities and their staffs is substantial. Implications for courts, policy planning, training, and further research are discussed.     

Stress Appraisal and Attitudes Towards Corporal Punishment as Intervening Processes Between Corporal Punishment and Subsequent Mental Health

The purpose of this research was to examine the role of within-person processes in determining the impact of parental corporal punishment on mental health in older adolescents. A stress appraisal scale specific to corporal punishment and an attitudes towards corporal punishment scale were developed for this study and examined as determinants of the impact of corporal punishment on psychological and parent-child relationship outcomes. Results of this research indicated that participants’ evaluations of their parents’ corporal punishment as threatening was more important than the actual frequency of corporal punishment in determining adolescent mental health, and were significantly associated with the mental health measures after controlling for other elements of parenting. In addition, the mother-child relationship was more adversely impacted by mothers’ corporal punishment when adolescents evaluated that punishment negatively. These results enhance theoretical models describing intrapersonal processes through which subabusive parental violence affects children and can help to improve intervention efforts aimed at reducing negative outcomes associated with corporal punishment.     

我国船舶油污损害赔偿案件的法律适用——以国内法和国际法的关系为中心

我国船舶油污损害赔偿案件在适用国内法或国际公约上存在明显的混乱,这表现在适用国际条约方面,采取的是一种以纳入适用与转化适用相结合的方式。就船舶油污损害赔偿事故而言,正确的做法应该是非涉外案件中的责任限制部分,适用我国《海商法》第11章的规定,其他部分适用《民法通则》、《海洋环境保护法》等;涉外案件,如果中国法没有规定,或者中国法的规定与中国参加的国际公约规定不一致,应当适用国际公约。