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3.4 - Forensic Mental Health Assessments

from Part III - Assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2021

By
Derek Perkins  and
Susannah Hughes
Edited by
Jennifer M. Brown  and
Miranda A. H. Horvath
Jennifer M. Brown
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Miranda A. H. Horvath
Affiliation:
University of Suffolk
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Summary

Forensic mental health is the interface between mental disorder and the courts and embraces a wide range of risk and clinical need assessments related to medical, psychological and social therapies. This chapter describes the nature and purposes of forensic mental health assessments in different settings (community, prison, hospital) and at different stages in mentally disordered offenders’ pathways to recovery (assessments at court, inpatient treatment, imprisonment and transitions to the community). It sets out assessment aims and the methods used to address these; outlines the main forensic mental health diagnostic systems (DSM-V and ICD-10); and overviews the complementary uses of systematic file review, clinical interviews, behavioural observations, psychometric assessments, structured professional judgement tools and mental disorder diagnoses. It illustrates the interplay between all these issues with two composite case studies at two stages of the individual’s progress, namely at court and at the transition from secure care to the community.

Keywords

ForensicPsychologicalDisorderOffendingAssessment
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Forensic Psychology , pp. 388 - 417
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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