Handbook of forensic psychology resource for mental health and legal professionals / edited by William T. O'Donohue, Eric R. Levensky.

Includes bibliographical references.

Psychology and the law -- An introduction to psychology for attorneys -- Ethical issues in forensic psychology -- Forensic report writing -- Assessment of dangerousness and criminal responsibility -- Issues in the assessment, communication, and management of risk for violence -- Forensic and ethical issues in the assessment and treatment of the suicidal patient -- Assessing intent and criminal responsibility -- Assessing adjudicative competency : using legal and empirical principles to inform practice -- Assessing mental competency in the elderly -- Child custody evaluations -- Forensic interviewing and assessment issues with children -- Evaluation of psychological damages -- Detecting malingering in forensic neuropsychological evaluations in litigants with mild traumatic brain injury -- The forensic assessment of substance abuse -- Assessment of post-traumatic stress disorder -- Conduct disorders and impulse control in children -- What every forensic psychologist should know about psychopathic personality -- Sexual deviance and forensic psychology : a primer -- Disorders of impulse control -- Developmental disabilities and mental retardation -- Issues in eyewitness testimony -- In search of recovered memories -- A Daubert testing of hypnotically refreshed testimony in the criminal courts -- A critical analysis of the polygraph -- Nonverbal detection of deception in forensic contexts -- Forensic issues in sexual harassment -- Legal issues in child abuse and neglect -- Partner violence : assessment, prediction, and intervention -- Elder abuse : guidelines for treatment -- Involuntary commitment -- Jurors can be selected : noninformation, misinformation, and their strategic uses for jury selection -- Issues of ethnicity in forensic psychology : a model for Hispanics in the United States -- Psychology in a secure setting -- Evaluation of youth in the juvenile justice system -- The road to perdition : extreme influence tactics in the interrogation room -- What's good for the goose cooks the gander : inconsistencies between the law and psychology of voluntary intoxication and sexual assault.

Forensic psychology has mushroomed into a diverse and increasingly complex field that is equal parts law and psychology. Psychologists act as expert witnesses in legal cases - sometimes without knowing much about the laws involved, and legal professionals rely on the assessment of psychologists sometimes without knowing much about how such assessments are made. The purpose of this handbook is to provide professionals with current, practical, and empirically based information to guide their work in forensic settings, or to better their understanding of the issues and debates in forensic psychology. Divided into four sections, the Handbook of Forensic Psychology covers basic issues, assessment, mental disorders and forensic psychology, and special topics. The basic issue chapters present a primer on law for the psychologist, a primer on psychology for attorneys, an overview of ethical issues relevant to forensic psychology, and a chapter on forensic report writing. The assessment section discusses factors and measures relevant for assessing a variety of behaviors, propensities, and capabilities, including dangerousness, violence, suicide, competency, substance abuse, PTSD and neuropsychological evaluations, as well as discussing interviewing children and child custody evaluations. Additional chapters discuss eyewitness testimony, recovered memory, polygraphs, sexual harassment, juror selection, and issues of ethnicity in forensic psychology.