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Forensic Behavioral Science
Test 2
34
Criminology
Undergraduate 4
04/08/2013

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Cards

Term
Why should FBS professionals have an obligation to their clients?
Definition
It falls under duty of care, which includes an obligation to safety of the client and anyone the client comes into contact with
Term
What are the general duties of care that are expected in a risk assessment?
Definition
Cannot be met with single assessment

Cannot be limited to first session

Must be alert to risk indicators

Behavioral and descriptive assessment
Term
What steps must be taken if a risk is present?
Definition
-Take all reasonable measures to protect client and others
-Focus on lethal circumstances
-Notify law enforcement agencies
-Consider involuntary treatment
Term
What are the types of dispositional factors to look for in risk assessment?
Definition
-Sustained Angry Disposition
-Persistent, negative , hostile inferences
-Persistent inference of harm from others
-Sustained hostile attitude
-Hypoarousability (under inhibited)
-Hyperarousability (overly inhibited)
-Limited intellectual or cognitive ability
-Impulsivity (cognitive and behavioral)
-Thrill seeking
-Attentional deficits
Term
What are the types of clinical factors to look for in risk assessment?
Definition
-Hallucinations
-Command hallucinations
-Compromised senses
-Highly suspicious attitude, thinking
-Poor medication adherence
-TBI (traumatic brain injury)
-Delusions
-Alcohol, drugs
-Depression (agitated depression)
-PTSD
-Panic or lack of confidence
-ASPD
Term
What are the types of historical factors to look for in risk assessment?
Definition
-Childhood victimization
-Physical abuse (or witness to abuse)
-Parental neglect
-Attachment disorders
-Early aggression onset
-Suicide attempts, ideation
-Adult victims of physical, sexual violence
-Foster care, institutionalization
Term
What are the types of contextual factors to look for in risk assessment?
Definition
-Loss of habitation
-Loss of caregiver, significant relationships
-Loss of job, income
-Unstable relationships
-Abusive relationships
-Presence, access to handguns
-Legal problems
-Adult male living with non-biological children
-Environment of substance abuse
Term
What are the criteria for and different responses to low levels of risk?
Definition
-Few identifiable risk factors
-No expression to harm self, others
-Response:
Occasional risk evaluation
Monitor life situation, status
No risk management action necessary
Term
What are the criteria for and different responses to moderate levels of risk?
Definition
-No significant risk factors present BUT has expressed harm to self or others
-Response:
Monitor life situation closely
Evaluate nature of risk
Monitor risk every session
Term
What are the criteria for and different responses to high levels of risk?
Definition
-Significant risk factors exist
-May not have expressed harm to self, others
-Response:
Monitor every session
Treatment plan to prevent or reduce harm
Term
What are the criteria for and different responses to critical levels of risk?
Definition
-Significant risk factors exist AND
-Expressing harm to self, others
-Combination of situational factors and intent to harm
-Response:
Harm reduction (treatment, commitment)
Duty to protect, warn
Term
What is the typical perpetrator?
Definition
Males
-With early age onset of alcohol use
-With alcoholic fathers
-Angry and hostile disposition
Term
What are the characteristics of the emotionally reactive type of perpetrator?
Definition
-Hostile and depressed
-Impulsivity
-Poor social skills
-Explosive, volatile disposition
-Loss of control when angry
-Perceived as immature, ineffectual
Term
What are the characteristics of the instrumental type of perpetrator?
Definition
-Perfectionist, over-controlling
-Extremely suspicious, jealous
-Emotionally constricted
-Rigid, controlling personality style
Term
What are the characteristics of the antisocial type of perpetrator?
Definition
-No attachments
-Likely to abuse drugs, alcohol
-Impulsive
-Attribution error
-Little or no remorse
-Resorts to violence to get his/her own way
Term
What are the types of features that mitigate risk?
Definition
-Desire to avoid negative consequences (arrest, protective order, civil commitment)
-Amenability to tx
-Empathy, realistic guilt
-Periods of alcohol, drug abstinence
-Belief that violence is wrong
-Childhood experiences of wrongfulness of violence toward others
Term
What is the definition of civil commitment?
Definition
Involuntary treatment or hospitalization of people because they pose a risk to themselves or others on account of mental disorder
Term
What are the two primary legal justifications for civil commitment?
Definition
-Parens patriae powers (parent of the nation): State power to act as guardian for physically/mentally ill & make decisions about welfare
-Police powers: State power to control those who threaten public order
Term
What are the general differences between civil and criminal commitment?
Definition
Criminal commitment is:
-Punitive
-Focuses on moral culpability
-Focuses on past

Civil commitment is
-Preventive (vs. punitive)
-No assumptions of moral culpability
-Focuses on present and future risk
Term
What are the types of due process protections that apply to civilly committed individuals?
Definition
-Right to legal representation
-Right to regular review of commitment
-Party seeking commitment must prove grounds met
Term
What is meant by “causal nexus?”
Definition
Connection between mental disorder and risk
Term
What are the general reasons why states have passed Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) acts?
Definition
-SVPs are extremely dangerous
-SVPs do not have a mental disease or defect (i.e., mental illness or mental retardation), so they cannot be involuntarily civilly committed
-SVPs typically have anti-social personality features, which are not amenable to existing mental illness trt
-Prognosis for rehabilitating SVPs while incarcerated is poor
-Treatment needs of SVPs are long term
Term
What are the legal characteristics of a SVP as defined by the Act?
Definition
Any person who:
-Has been convicted of or charged with a sexually violent offense, and
-Suffers from a mental abnormality or personality disorder
-Which makes the person likely to engage in the predatory acts of sexual violence
Term
In Kansas v Hendricks, how did the Supreme Court address the controversy surrounding the term “mental abnormality?”
Definition
The term mental illness is devoid of any “magical significance” and it is the job of legislators to define medical terms for legal use.
Often, those definitions do not fit precisely with the definitions employed by the mental health community.
Term
What are some of the dilemmas associated with civil commitment?
Definition
-How much mental illness is required for commitment?
-How much dangerousness is required for commitment?
-Can dangerousness be past, current or future?
-Can dangerousness be against property or just persons?
-Once committed, how accurate are release decisions (i.e., predictions about future dangerousness)?
Term
What are the Neil Five Factors test for eyewitness identification (aka PACTO)?
Definition
P - Prior description (accuracy of the witness' prior description of the criminal)
A - Attention (degree of attention)
C - Certainty (level of certainty demonstrated by the witness)
T - Time (between the crime and the identification)
O - Opportunity (opportunity to view the criminal at the time of the crime)
Term
What is unconscious transfer?
Definition
When a witness remembers a face but inaccurately attributes the face to a different context
Term
What is post-event information?
Definition
Information a person learns after an event that later becomes integrated with the memory of the event
Term
According to Rule 702, what is the rational under which an expert in eyewitness identification would be allowed to testify?
Definition
If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise
Term
What are the general sources of eyewitness identification errors?
Definition
-Witness characteristics (age, race, gender)
-Situational factors (stress, presence of weapon)
-Post event factors (passage of time, misleading information)
Term
What is a demand characteristic in eyewitness identification procedures?
Definition
The psychological pressure on a witness to give a description of a perpetrator or make a positive identification
Term
What is the difference between simultaneous and sequential presentation in line-ups?
Definition
Simultaneous is when all the potential perpetrators are shown at once and the witness feels an increased pressure to make an identification with one of them.

Sequential is when the potential perpetrator is shown one at a time, which allows the witness to judge one potential perpetrator at a time
Term
What is the relationship between stress and identification accuracy (the Yerkes Dodson law)?
Definition
Performance in relation to stress/arousal creates an upside-down U line on a graph, with peak performance occurring under moderate stress/arousal
Term
What are the effects that expert testimony on eyewitness identification has on a jury?
Definition
-Jurors place less emphasis on eyewitness confidence
-Sensitizes jurors to the importance that may reduce or enhance eyewitness accuracy
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