Forensic Psychology For Dummies (107 page)

BOOK: Forensic Psychology For Dummies
7.05Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
 

Seizures

 

Vomiting

 

Some vets report that a family pet may also be a ‘proxy’; owners deliberately hurt a pet in order to get sympathy and medical attention.

 

The term Munchausen comes from the 18th-century German soldier and politician Baron von Münchausen, who was renowned for inventing incredible stories about his travels and military exploits.

 

Making Judgements for Risk Assessment

At different stages through the legal process, before, during or after the trial, a forensic psychologist may be called upon to assess how dangerous the defendant is likely to be in any future situation. This process is called
risk assessment
and includes the possibility that he may harm himself or others through violence or sexual assaults.

 

Risk assessment is becoming a major and extremely challenging task in many different settings. In general, recommendations are based on reviews of static, relatively unchanging factors alongside more dynamic risk factors that are potentially open to change.

 

The static risk factors tend to be historical, such as:

 

Previous violence

 

Employment problems

 

Clear evidence of psychopathy

 

Substance abuse

 

The dynamic factors are more directly psychological issues:

 

Lack of insight

 

Impulsivity

 

Unfeasible plans for the future

 

Social support and how the individual dealt with any previous forms of remedial intervention

 

Potential stressors

 

In order to illustrate how risk assessment works, I compare two different offenders:

Other books

City of the Lost by Will Adams
Thinner Than Skin by Uzma Aslam Khan
Hot Blood by Stephen Leather
When in Rome... by Gemma Townley
Darkened Days by C. L. Quinn
Race Against Time by Kimberly, Kayla Woodhouse
No Shelter by Robert Swartwood