Forensic Evaluation Context

The purpose of this assignment is to create a rough draft of the forensic evaluation that you selected in the previous week from the following four options:

· Competency to confess (waive Miranda rights).

· Sanity at the time of the offense charged (insanity).

· Independent medical evaluation (IME) for psychological damages. – I chose IME.

· Juvenile court evaluation for amenability to treatment.

Instructions:
For this assignment, you will begin to complete an outline of key components of a forensic evaluation, which will be further completed in upper week. In this initial draft of your forensic evaluation, include the following components (a forensic evaluation generally has all of these elements, although some evaluators may provide more background information on the evaluee than others—many examples of forensic evaluations are provided in Chapter 19 of your Melton textbook):

1. Introduction

· Explain the legal question being asked.

· Invent a fictional client to be evaluated and describe all relevant characteristics of this evaluee (evaluee name, gender and age).

· Informed Consent

· Include a paragraph explaining what you would tell the evaluee about the nature and purpose of the evaluation, including any limitations to confidentiality and release of information.

· Interview Questions

· Based on the particular type of evaluation you selected, include a section describing the questions related to the referral question that you plan to ask your evaluee.

· Collateral Information

· Include other third-party information relevant to the legal question being asked that you would obtain.

· Test Battery

· Justify the appropriateness of two instruments that you would administer for the type of evaluation you are conducting.

Use the Sample Forensic Evaluation (linked in Resources) to assist in formatting your evaluation. Note that your forensic evaluation does not require this level of detail in the background history.

Additional Requirements:
· In addition to the above objectives, your assignment should meet the following requirements:

· Written communications are free of errors that detract from the overall message.

· Formatting: current edition APA style and format.

· Length of paper: 6–8 pages.

· Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

Damages Evaluation—IME

Imagine you have been asked to perform an IME on a client with various mental-health complaints resulting from a violent rape, then complete the following:

· Briefly outline the main features of a psychological damages evaluation.

· Broadly outline the interview issues, test battery, and collateral sources of information you would wish to review in this evaluation.

· Explain whether or not your evaluation strategy would change if you were hired by the defense rather than the attorney for the plaintiff.

Evaluation of Disability
Compare and contrast workers’ compensation disability evaluations to Social Security disability evaluations, describing both differences in evaluation methods and legal differences.