Forensic Psychiatry
A Lawyer’s Guide

A user-friendly roadmap to forensic psychiatry for the non-psychiatrist

Vivian Shnaidman (Author)

9780128028520

Hardback, published 18 January 2016

214 pages
23.4 x 19 x 2 cm, 0.66 kg

Lawyers frequently encounter clients and/or cases of bizarre behavior, mental illness, substance abuse, psychopathy, sexual offenses, learning disorders, birth defects, and other behavioral and emotional issues. Often they are ill-prepared to understand the nature of the psychiatric report, how the psychiatric assessment was structured, and how to best utilize and challenge these reports in court.Forensic Psychiatry: A Lawyer’s Guide provides legal professionals the tools to identify mentally ill clients and help them navigate through the psychiatric information and language in reports and testimony. Topics include why a forensic psychiatrist is necessary, applications of psychiatry to law, various psychiatric disorders, and utilizing the expert witness.

Chapter 1: Why you need a forensic psychiatristChapter 2: What is psychiatry?Chapter 3: Applications of psychiatry to lawChapter 4: The Mental Status ExaminationChapter 5: Common psychiatric diagnosesChapter 6: Bad vs. MadChapter 7: Critical concept in competencyChapter 8: Treatable disorders vs brain damageChapter 9: Medical problemsChapter 10: Hearing voicesChapter 11: Your Expert WitnessChapter 12: Summary and conclusionsGlossary of Terms

Subject Areas: Forensic science [JKVF1], Crime & criminology [JKV]