Rind controversy redux: Psychological sequelae of adult-child sexual contact.
Forensic psychologists may be called upon to render opinions concerning psychological harm following adult-child sexual contact. Rind et al. (1998) examined assumed properties of CSA and found that psychological harm is variable. They found that family environment was consistently confounded with CSA, and explained considerably more adjustment variance than CSA. CSA-adjustment relations generally became nonsignificant […]
Voluntariness of Confessions
Forensic psychologists working in criminal proceedings must be acquainted with the law and behavioral science of confessions. Voluntariness of confessions is a deep mainstay of confession law, reflected in the Miranda decision. Miranda requires that a confession be voluntary, knowing, and intelligent, though discrimination between the latter two prongs is murky. On the issue of […]
Forensic toolbox: Assessment of Miranda waivers – the SAMA (Structured Assessment of Miranda Waivers).
The assessment of Miranda waivers is a common task for the general practice forensic psychologist. Up until recently, psychologists had Grisso’s Miranda measure to utilize in these situations (see Frumkin, et al, 2012). Richard Rogers and his colleagues have recently released a significant new forensic assessment instrument marketed by PAR Inc. The SAMA comprises five […]
VRAG Update
The VRAG is the granddaddy of static violence risk measures. Regardless of the fact that most all static risk measures perform equivalently (the “coffee can” risk assessment, Kroner et al, 2005), the VRAG is the mainstay of violence risk assessment. The authors update the VRAG with a sample of 1,261 offenders, fewer than half of […]