Civil Forensic Assesment (Chp3)

Front 1

What are the differences between criminal and civil law?

Back 1

Criminal:
-Crown lays the charges and direct the process
-Costs incurred by Crown
-Offense against the Crown
-Beyond a reasonable doubt
-Federal jurisdiction
-Punitive

Civil:
-Individual commences the action and directs the prosecution
- Costs incurred by parties
-Offense against an individual
-On a balance of probabilities
-Provincial jurisdiction
-restorative (rehabilitative)

Front 2

What are the major domains of practice in Civil forensic assessments?

Back 2

Health: nature and severity of psychological impairments
- civil commitment, competence to consent to treatment, person injury.

Children and families: legal issues related to interests of children and families in conflict.
- parenting capacity, guardianship, risk of maltreatment

Employment and Education: evaluates appropriate/inappropriate infringement of rights
-fitness for duty/reasonable accommodations, discrimination and harassment, workplace violence and disability.

Front 3

Civil Commitment

Back 3

involuntary treatment or hospitalization of people on grounds they pose a risk to themselves or others on account of mental disorder.

Front 4

Civil Commitment : Procedure

Back 4

mental disorder seriously impairs a persons ability to react appropriately to the persons environment or others

- physician certifies that the persons requires treatment, care, supervision and control through facility to prevent mental or physical deteroriation or for the protection of the person or patient or the protections of others and cannot be admitted as a voluntary patient

1 certificate from a doctor = 48hrs
2 certificates from a doctor = up to 30 days (can be renewed)

Front 5

True or False; involuntary treatments/commitments infringe rights and freedoms.

Back 5

true

Front 6

Upon civil commitment procedural safeguards have been established which mean that patients have the right to be notified of .....?

Back 6

-right to review
-right to appeals
-right to a second medical opinion on the treatment plan

Front 7

Challenges for psychologists who assess MD for civil commitment

Back 7

-legal definition of mental disorder
-law is interested in current vs. lifetime diagnoses - but current are less reliable
-Not all MD are assessed/diagnosed w/ equal reliability/ validity
-Not all forms of MD are relevant to civil commitment

Front 8

Risk of Harm

Back 8

definition of nature/degree of harm varies across jurisdiction
-difficult to speculate about future
-must be legally relevant
-psychological tolls may assist in risk (e.g., STATIC-99; COVR)

Front 9

Casual Nexus

Back 9

mental disorder MAY be associated with risk of harm, but this is not ALWAYS the case
-assessments must be individualized
-can be difficult to assess casual nexus bcuz requires sound explanation and rule-out of other plausible explanations

Front 10

Parenting Capacity

Back 10

psychological assessments of peoples suitability to act as caregivers for children

Relevant when rights and responsibilities in child-rearing are in conflict
1.
Parents rights conflict with their responsibilities
2.
Rights of parents conflict with each other (custody/access disputes)
3.
Rights of parents conflict with rights of children
4.
Rights of parents conflict with other interested parties (e.g., family members, police, child protection agencies)

Front 11

Parent Capacity Evaluations: change in guidelines

Back 11

Evaluators act more frequently as neutral, court-appointed evaluators

Evaluations are taking more time (21 to 24 hours on average)

More use of specific tests & time spent reviewing documentary evidence

Increased evaluation/specific recommendations re: custody & access in light of child needs

Front 12

Ongoing challenges in Parent Capacity Evaluations

Back 12

Many evaluators do not pay attention to legal context/address legal criteria

Insufficient scientific support for psychological tests used in PC evaluations

Decisions about parenting capacity are value-laden

Front 13

Child Maltreatment

Back 13

The abuse or neglect of children by parents or other people in a position of power, trust or responsibility

Abusive acts divided into three:
-physical abuse: actual, attempted or threatened injury of a child

sexual abuse: actual attempted or threatened sexual contact that is inappropriate due to the perpetrator's age or relationship to a child

Emotional abuse: actual, attempted, or threatened psychological or social harm of a child

Child neglect - The omission of acts that deliberately or recklessly threaten the well being of children

** must be culturally abnormal or deviant

Front 14

Child Abuse

Back 14

The commission of acts that deliberately or recklessly threaten the safety and well being of children

Front 15

Economic consequences of child maltreatment

Back 15

-national costs estimated 258 million per day, 90 billion per year

Front 16

Mandatory Reporting

Back 16

Governments have a mandate to protect children from harm- to prevent and to respond to reports
-legal duty to report suspected child maltreatment
-UN on rights of children outlined