Psychiatry Psychology and Law最新文献

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1080/13218719.2025.2546314.].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1080/13218719.2024.2416653.].

Assessing the credibility of psychological problems in forensic evaluations is crucial. The Inventory of Problems-29 (IOP-29) is becoming a valuable symptom validity test (SVT) worldwide and has been validated in over 15 languages. This study evaluates the German IOP-29 and fills a gap by replicating a study of Akca, Tepedelen, et al. We analysed 384 IOP-29 protocols from 128 German-speaking adults (range = 18-87 years) under three conditions: honest, random and feigned responses (post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD; depression; schizophrenia). Statistical analyses showed that the False Disorder Probability Score (FDS) effectively discriminated between honest and feigned responses (Hedges g = 3.90), with a sensitivity of .91 and a specificity of .95 at an FDS cut-off value of ≥.50. A new index for detecting careless or random responses also showed promising results. This study confirms the utility of the IOP-29 in the German-speaking population and supports its cross-cultural applicability.

A growing body of research reveals that the psychosocial risks faced by lawyers working in the legal assistance sector are not being adequately managed by employers, which is taking its toll on the on the mental wellbeing of lawyers. In this qualitative study, 16 lawyers from the sector in Australia describe measures that could be taken to manage these risks. This includes managing work loads/type/clarity/control, supporting isolated staff, creating supportive teams, training, supervision and mentoring, effective and supported managers, rewards and recognition, a safe physical environment, recruitment and retention, risk assessment and management processes, reporting mechanisms and adequate policies and procedures. Participants recommended preventative measures, suggestions solutions need to be tailored to lawyers and their work setting; and be actioned and modelled from the top of the organisation. The rich detail provided by participants offers employers in the sector a much needed list of strategies to implement.

This study uses a novel methodology that combines legal and psychological approaches to analyse a large set of Canadian refugee status rejections (n = 120). It distinguishes legal inferences from their underlying psychological assumptions and quantifies both inferences and assumptions in a set of 89 written decisions. Its findings yield new insights that inform the use of social science in the evaluation of deception findings in this field: it identifies the most important categories of legal inference that support these findings (inferences drawn from observations of 'inconsistency', 'non-probative supporting evidence' and 'risk response'), and it is the first study to identify the most significant kinds of assumption that underlie the finding that a refugee claimant is lying. These include assumptions that have been observed in previous studies: assumptions about the consistency of truthful and deceptive accounts and about how people act when they are at risk. Perhaps most importantly, this study has identified a new and significant category of psychological assumption operating in these decisions: assumptions about the robustness of a claimant's metacognition, their ability to understand and explain their own cognitive processes.

High rates of trauma among court-involved youth have led to efforts to incorporate trauma-informed practices (TIPs) in courts. Despite these efforts, little is known about the degree to which TIPs have been adopted. We observed 201 juvenile court hearings overseen by 16 judges in a Southeastern state in the United States, examining the presence of over 60 TIPs related to the environment, policies/activities, and judge behaviour. Descriptive analyses revealed vast gaps in the implementation of certain TIPs, such as those related to decision-making and acknowledgment of contextual factors contributing to youths' court involvement. We additionally conducted multilevel modelling to examine whether judges' engagement with TIPs depended on case-, judge-, and youth-related factors. We found judges generally implemented TIPs equitably across examined factors but between-judge variability in three practice categories suggests youths' court experiences may depend on the judge to whom they are assigned.

The current study aims at examining the potential role of Light Triad traits of personality as moderators of the dark core of personality-psychopathy-antisociality/criminality links. A convenience sample composed of 354 adult participants (M = 32.02 years, SD = 13.26 years, range = 18-68 years) from Portugal was used in the current study. Results show that only the Kantianism trait of the Light Triad Scale (LTS) measure significantly moderates the dark factor of personality (D) measure and the psychopathy trait of the short dark tetrad (SD4) measure when predicting the antisociality/criminality outcome, while the Light Triad total score only moderates the psychopathy trait. Findings suggest that the conceptualisation of Light Triad traits -more specifically, the Kantianism trait - as protective factors for antisocial and criminal behaviour are a promising avenue for research, but more investigation is needed about its moderation effects to inform behavioural interventions in forensic settings.

This study investigates legal professionals' knowledge of eyewitness testimony factors, including system and estimator factors, compared to laypeople. Previous research has questioned the adequacy of methods assessing legal actors' understanding. To address this, 313 legal professionals and 400 laypeople completed a 21-item questionnaire embedded in case-specific scenarios using vignette methodology. Legal professionals achieved an accuracy rate of 66%, compared to 60.3% for laypeople. They more accurately identified estimator factors than system factors, with judges and prosecutors performing better than laypeople in both categories. These results reveal significant variations in knowledge of eyewitness testimony and underscore the need for targeted training programs. Enhancing legal professionals' understanding of eyewitness factors could contribute to fairer and more accurate judicial outcomes.

This study examines the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients with delusional disorder who have committed crimes, with a particular focus on the factors that contribute to criminal behaviour and the criminal characteristics that are exhibited by this group. Furthermore, this study presents the inaugural analysis of criminal responsibility and legal capacity in this patient population. The data from the Turkish Council of Forensic Medicine (2018-2022) were subjected to retrospective analysis, with a comparison made between the 54 cases evaluated for criminal responsibility. The results demonstrated that patients with criminal histories exhibited elevated rates of divorce, diminished educational attainment, increased hospitalisations, and a higher prevalence of erotomanic and religious delusions. Males were more likely to commit crimes against their spouses, while females targeted their neighbours. Males also predominated in objections to guardianship decisions. These characteristics are associated with an increased risk of criminal involvement.