Disability and the law: Attitudes of police, lawyers, and mental health professionals.

A literature review on the attitudes of police officers, lawyers, and mental health professionals toward the disabled indicates that police officers' attitudes are related to the extent of their formal education and the amount of information they have about relating to persons with various types of disabilities. Lawyers who have disabled clients tend to be more knowledgeable and to have more positive attitudes than lawyers without such clients, but it is not easy to turn lawyers into advocates for disabled clients. Mental health professionals, who may be called on to provide advice to police officers or lawyers or to testify in court cases, have some negative aspects that may impair their helpfulness, but their attitudes are more positive than those of less educated persons. Data also indicate that the attitudes of psychologists are less negative than those of psychiatrists. It is concluded that rehabilitation psychologists need to undertake studies of the attitudes of these groups and to set up programs designed to change the attitudes of members of these professions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pupils, parents, privacy, and the school psychologist.

The past decade has witnessed increasing concern over issues of pupil records, confidentiality, privileged communication, and invasion of privacy. In an attempt to clarify and differentiate concepts of privileged communication and confidentiality, a selected group of legislative actions, legal rulings or court decisions, and related administrative decisions are reviewed, primarily wtihin the field of education. Projected directional trends and their implications for educators and psychologists are discussed, with particular reference to the role of school psychologists. Community control of schools is supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Complementary/alternative medicine: Ethical, professional, and practical challenges for psychologists.

Do your clients talk about using various complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) approaches to deal with their problems? Are you aware of the research on these approaches and their possible effect on health? Many popular CAM approaches are described, and the background and efficacy literature on several of them is reviewed and discussed. Ethical, legal, and practical issues for psychologists are discussed. Data from a preliminary survey of members of the American Psychological Association (N=202) on their knowledge and use of CAM are reported. A majority held favorable opinions of the potential legitimacy of alternative modalities, but many correctly assumed that state laws are ambiguous on this matter. This information may help the practicing psychologist respond more effectively when clients talk about their CAM interests and practices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prevalence and relevant background characteristics of deafness and severe hearing loss in the Netherlands

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of deafness and severe hardness of hearing among the Dutch population and of some relevant background characteristics. DESIGN: Study of documents. SETTING: Dutch schools for deaf and hard-of-hearing children. METHOD: The number of deaf and severely hard-of-hearing children of 6-12 years who received education or ambulatory supervision at schools for deaf and hard-of-hearing children was counted in the period November 1996-April 1997, and a number of relevant background characteristics were collected. By means of consultation with experts, this number was corrected for children who could not be retrieved by means of the inventory at these schools. To estimate the total number of deaf and severely hard-of-hearing people in the Dutch population, this adjusted number was extrapolated to older and younger year cohorts. RESULTS: The number of deaf and hard-of-hearing children of 6-12 years, after correction for missing groups, was 0.74 (95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.69-0.78) per 1000 persons. In 9% the age of onset of the handicap was postlingual; they more often received ambulatory supervision and more often received education at a school for hard-of-hearing children than those with a prelingual auditive handicap. Of the children 29% had a non-Western origin; they less often received ambulatory supervision, and more often received education from a school for deaf children than indigenous pupils. Among the total Dutch population, the number of deaf and hard-of-hearing persons in 1996 was estimated to be 11,400 persons (95% CI: 10,690-12,110). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of deafness and severe hardness of hearing in the Netherlands (15,490,000 inhabitants in 1996) was 11,400 persons (95% CI: 10,690-12,110).     

What tests are acceptable for use in forensic evaluations? A survey of experts.

When conducting a forensic evaluation, what psychological tests do experts consider acceptable to use? The answer is useful to psychologists making practice decisions but also to the courts, who rely on others' opinions to base one of the criteria for determining the admissibility of testimony. The author surveyed diplomates in forensic psychology (N=64) regarding both the frequency with which they use and their opinions about the acceptability of a variety of psychological tests in 6 areas of forensic practice. The 6 areas were mental state at the offense, risk for violence, risk for sexual violence, competency to stand trial, competency to waive Miranda rights, and malingering. Results are presented for each practice area, and the implications of these results for the courts, future research, and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinician Variation in Rates of Legal Sanity Opinions: Implications for Self-Monitoring.

How often do forensic psychologists find that a defendant meets criteria for legal sanity? Do clinicians vary in terms of how frequently they offer opinions supportive of insanity? If so, how might a conscientious clinician determine whether unusually high or low rates of insanity opinions reflect bias? The authors present the first available data regarding how individual clinicians vary in rates of insanity opinions, drawing from 59 clinicians who conducted 4,498 evaluations. Most clinicians found 5%-25% of defendants met criteria for legal insanity. However, some clinicians opined that no defendants met criteria for legal insanity, whereas others opined that as many as 50% of defendants did. The authors (a) provide suggestions to help practicing clinical-forensic psychologists monitor their patterns of psycho-legal opinions and (b) examine carefully whether unusual rates may reflect clinician bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Third party presence during criminal forensic evaluations: Psychologists' opinions, attitudes, and practices.

If you are a psychologist who conducts forensic evaluations, how would you respond to an attorney's or family member's request to be present or to videotape the evaluation? Your answer may be impacted by legal, professional, ethical, and practical issues as addressed in legal and mental health publications. However, there is a dearth of empirical attention, and even the opinions and practices of psychologists in this arena are unclear. The present article addresses the need for empirical data on third party presence by surveying forensic clinicians' perspectives on the topic. A total of 160 forensic practitioners (41% response rate) provided information on their attitudes and practices pertaining to third parties in an evaluation. Overall, most clinicians believe third party presence can negatively impact an evaluation, yet most have conducted examinations under such conditions. The article concludes with speculation as to the impact of third party presence, a call for research and professional standards, and specific guidelines for psychologists who may struggle with these complex issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Legal and ethical issues in debt collection strategies of professional psychologists.

Maintains that the improper use of aggressive collection techniques (e.g., by collection agencies or small claims court) presents an ethical and legal risk to psychologists. Clinical accounts are viewed as confidential information that may not be ethically released to collection services without the permission of the client—a form of consent probably rarely obtained by therapists. Moreover, previous work has shown that fee disputes represent one of the major forms of legal action taken against psychologists. A survey of 148 clinical psychologists revealed that a majority have used collection services and that a minority of clinicians routinely inform clients on the limitations of confidentiality. Specific recommendations, such as the use of credit cards or payment at time of visit, are offered on how to avoid the potential legal and ethical risks associated with these collection techniques. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Women's leadership development strategic practices for women and organizations.

This article presents a comprehensive perspective of leadership development that addresses the unique needs of women in organizations. The authors propose 7 categories of leadership development practice and examine the opportunities and obstacles in each of these practices for women. The authors offer recommendations for consulting psychologists and human resources professionals targeted to female clients and to organizational practices in order to advance women's leadership development. Finally, the authors discuss the overarching themes emanating from their research and implications for women and leadership development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of sign language interpreter and therapist moods on deaf recipient mood.

This study questions how the mood and affective reactions of the interpreter and the therapist affect the therapeutic process. Professional sign language interpreters are trained to be impartial conduits who neither add nor subtract from the primary dyadic relationship. This study revealed that despondent interpreter mood caused significant negative mood changes in the deaf participant even when the therapist mood was neutral/cheerful. Practicing psychologists need to consider the susceptibility of deaf clients to the nonverbal mood presentation of sign language interpreters and its implications on the therapeutic alliance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural and linguistic bias in mental health evaluations of deaf people.

Examines assessment issues related to deaf clients, focusing on cultural and linguistic bias. Reliability and validity problems encountered when administering intellectual and personality assessments to hearing-impaired Ss are discussed. Factors influencing psychological assessment are addressed, including inaccurate beliefs and problems with rapport, miscommunication, and using interpreters. It is recommended that research be conducted to refine the psychometric properties of assessment instruments used, that psychologists become more sophisticated about deaf culture, and that psychologists interested in working with deaf clients need to become more skilled in the use of sign language. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accepting forensic case referrals: Ethical and professional considerations.

As psychologists serve the legal system with increasing frequency, it is important to consider a number of critical issues at a case's inception, including the following: Who calls the psychologist? Who is the referral source? Who is the attorney? Who are the various parties involved in the case? What are the facts of the case? Does the psychologist have the expertise to clarify and develop technical issues of the case? Will the psychologist be expected to play an expert role or a consultant role? Who pays the psychologist? How are fees determined? What records should be kept? Answering these questions will help the psychologist avoid ethical, legal, and professional dilemmas and will allow the psychologist to perform an important service in helping the court to understand technical issues in reaching just decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fear, prejudice, and neglect: Discrimination against mentally disabled persons.

Historically, the law has directly discriminated against mentally disabled persons and has failed to protect them from discrimination by private parties. Despite the arguments of the American Psychological Association and other mental health organizations, the Supreme Court has refused to consider state-sanctioned discrimination on the basis of mental disability as requiring a higher level of judicial scrutiny to ensure that it is related to important governmental objectives. Without such scrutiny, policy decisions based on prejudice and fear may jeopardize fair and humane treatment of mentally disabled persons in community and institutional settings. Such inadequate legal protection for mentally disabled persons heightens the significance of the professional responsibility of psychologists and other mental health professionals to promote respect for the personal autonomy of their clients and to strive to preserve their clients' constitutional rights of due process and equal protection under the law. To further legislative advocacy efforts on behalf of mentally disabled persons, an overview of existing federal antidiscrimination statutes is provided, along with a discussion of more recent legislation granting mentally disabled persons affirmative rights in a variety of contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychologist as an expert witness in court.

"An important problem in psychology today is the legal status of the psychologist and his relationship to the courts; and of special importance in the position of the psychologist as an expert witness… . There is considerable evidence of the use of psychologists in court cases in the federal courts… " as well as in state courts. "There is… conflicting evidence as to state court opinions on the expertness of testimony given by psychologists… . Once an adequate definition of a psychologist is established by legal authorities… [the problem of the position of the psychologist as an expert witness]… will be much nearer to a solution." Certification or licensing legislation seems to be desirable. 29 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Report of the Recording Secretary.

Reports on actions of the Council, including a petition of the Black Students Psychological Association that lists five goals. The item with the most potentially far-reaching implications for the future of APA is one that involves only rather minor immediate decisions. This is the question of the role of nondoctoral psychologists in APA and the proper function of APA in serving individuals who apply psychology. At the moment the recommendations ask only for study of the manpower needed for providing effective psychological services and of the way in which APA might serve the needs of the individual psychologists with less than doctoral training. This report discusses implications for an increase in dues income, membership standards, the size of APA, its journal program, and the effect of this issue on professional education, training, and standards. Public affairs issues continue to be a major concern of the Board of Directors and of Council. At the October meeting, Council will consider several resolutions related to nondiscriminatory practices; the legitimacy of the work of the membership of the Division of Military Psychology; a possible endorsement of a moratorium of university teaching, study, and research in protest of American involvement in Vietnam; and a possible withdrawal of the accreditation of any doctoral training program that discriminates against women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Professionally responsible test selection for Spanish-speaking clients: A four-step approach for identifying and selecting translated tests.

As the Spanish-speaking population grows in the United States, the number of psychologists asked to conduct psychological evaluations of Spanish-speaking clients is likely to increase. Although Spanish-language translations of many psychological tests are being sold by major test publishing companies, many of these tests have little or no research supporting their use with Spanish-speaking U.S. residents. Psychologists must carefully consider the level of research support for translated tests before using them with Spanish-speaking clients. This article provides a 4-step approach to assist practitioners in making professionally responsible decisions about using translated tests. The authors provide an example of this approach by reviewing the current state of research support for translated tests designed to assess personality and psychopathology in adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children, psychiatrists and the courts: understanding the ambivalence of the legal profession. Part 1--General principles

Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals are frequently involved as expert witnesses in court proceedings related to children and adolescents. Their testimony may be based on a therapeutic relationship, but frequently arises because of an assessment conducted specifically for the court process. This two part paper discusses some of the issues that arise when child psychiatrists are involved as expert witnesses in litigation, with specific focus on their role in child custody, sexual abuse and young offender cases. It also offers some practical advice for those who may be called as witnesses. There is controversy in the legal profession about the role of mental health professionals in the court process. While there is recognition of their expertise, there is also a concern about not wanting to have experts usurp the role of the courts. Legal professionals also question the "objectivity" of experts, and the reliability of their opinions. Frequently the opinions of psychiatrists about children and adolescents involved in litigation have inherently speculative and value based dimensions, and not "scientific". Participation in the court process by mental health experts is nevertheless a vitally important role, providing information, analysis and recommendations about what are often very difficult societal decisions. Part two of this paper starts on page 531.     

The interaction between ethics and the law: The ongoing refinement of ethical standards for psychologists in Canada.

Discusses the relationship between Canadian law and ethics, starting with a review of the options available for controlling the conduct of psychologists. The authors then demonstrate how the law influences the development and implementation of ethical standards by both deriving the principles of professional ethics and by reshaping the parameters of conduct by psychologists. The authors show that acting ethically generally leads to acting legally, an vice versa. A review of recent Canadian cases in which the decisions of provincial disciplinary decisions for psychologists were considered demonstrate that, for the most part, courts uphold decisions by licensing boards, particularly those that have employed fair procedures that comport to the principles of natural justice. Finally, the authors point to the continued need for systematically monitoring legislation and legal decisions to determine their influence on our ethical principles, and note that there is a role for provincial and national psychology bodies to lobby legislators and to intervene in cases when matters are being considered that affect the ethical conduct of psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Editor’s introduction.

Introduces the special issue on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If the ADA is to be fully implemented, it is essential that those with rights and responsibilities under the Act be knowledgeable regarding its provisions. Because the ADA covers all aspects of participation in society—employment, public accommodations, transportation, and telecommunications—its impact will be felt in multiple ways. The inclusion of authors who are not psychologists, and the range of issues covered in the special issue, underscore the need for an interdisciplinary effort to ensure implementation of the ADA. In order to fulfill their responsibilities under the ADA, psychologists need to be aware, not only of those areas of disability law and policy that are relevant to their work, but also of the resources that are available to facilitate compliance with the law. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonromantic, nonsexual posttherapy relationships between psychologists and former clients: An exploratory study of critical incidents.

The authors asked 320 psychologists to participate in a nonrandom, exploratory study by providing incidents of nonromantic, nonsexual relationships with former clients. In addition, these psychologists were asked to discuss whether they saw these relationships as ethically problematic. A total of 91 useable incidents (from a final sample size of 63 respondents) were sorted into eight relationships categories. The results of this study highlight several issues: (a) Psychologists are dealing with a variety of nonromantic, nonsexual relationships with former clients, (b) there is little consensus about the ethicality of these contracts, and (c) future revisions of the Ethics Code (American Psychological Association, 1992) may need to consider nonsexual and nonromantic relationships with former clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)