| Abstract: | Reviews the book, Competency to Stand Trial by Ronald Roesch and Stephen Golding (1981). Competency to Stand Trial is about the kinds of tests used by psychiatrists and other clinicians in the course of Court-ordered evaluations. The book does in fact though deal with a set of issues probably even more important than assessing insanity (as under Section 16 of the Criminal Code of Canada). Roesch and Golding examined the way in which competency, or fitness, examinations were conducted in North Carolina. Their research was set in motion when they were asked to advise on the building of new facilities for the conduct of fitness examinations. Competency to Stand Trial shows how, with careful thought and analysis, behavioural scientists can sometimes transform the nature of a problem quite fundamentally. Roesch and Golding have written an admirable book. It contains an excellent and readable summary of the legal issues around competency, impeccable data with well reasoned argument, and thoughtful, challenging suggestions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
