Assignment task:
Discussion by Anonda Rapp
Reply from Anonda Rapp
Explain the risks of not reporting the results of your forensic assessment findings accurately. Provide specific examples.
If the findings of a forensic assessment are not reported accurately the consequences can be to the individual, the community and on the practitioner. Part of inaccurate results comes from evaluators using instruments which allow for too much interpretation within their results. In their article, Guarnera and Murrie (2017), describe how past research has shown that assessments such as the Hare's Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) which has several measurements that aren't purely quantifiable but are instead interpretative such as glibness, have lower field reliability than more structured risk assessments.
Given the nature of the case you identified in your state or community, in which forensic psychology professionals are involved, explain potential breaches of confidentiality that could violate ethical guidelines. Provide specific examples.
The case I selected is that of Austin Harrouff, who at the age of nineteen, "experienced a decompensated mental state associated with an emerging mood and/or thought disorder resulting in an acute psychotic episode" where he brutally murdered a couple and chewed on one of the victim's faces (Landrum, 2020). Prior to the double homicide, Harrouf was a Florida State University student, a member of a fraternity and reportedly a decent guy. Information acquired following his arrest pointed to signs that something was wrong which included him flushing drugs he had recently purchased, increasingly paranoid behavior, and hearing internal voices in the form of spirits (Landrum, 2020). In this case specifically, an example of a potential breach in confidentiality could be releasing details of his religious delusions. Any violation of confidentiality is thereby a violations of the American Psychological Associations ethics codes, particularly section 4.04 minimizing intrusions on privacy (APA, 2016), in which it clearly states that information should only be discussed in "appropriate scientific or professional purposes and only with persons clearly concerned with such matters" (APA, 2016).
Explain the risk of lack of independence from retaining parties often associated with community cases.
When considering the influence of retaining parties, we cannot ignore that there are biases both explicit and implicit that are in effect when psychologists are conducting assessments within the court system. An analysis of archival data found that for both prosecution and defense-retained evaluators, their risk scores reflected support for their retainers (Guarnera & Murrie, 2017). This can negatively impact communities by providing inaccurate information regarding a violent offender who is then released early and causes more harm to the community, or by a lower risk offender being considered higher risk and being taken from his community for longer. In my opinion, the worst consequence that this relationship could have on a community is the lack of trust in judicial proceedings. The influence of partisan bias influences judges trust in psychologists, as well as the jury which discredits their effort overall. Need Assignment Help?
References:
American Psychological Association [APA]. (2016). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct.
Guarnera, L. A., Murrie, D. C., & Boccaccini, M. T. (2017). Why do forensic experts disagree? Sources of unreliability and bias in forensic psychology evaluations. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 3(2), 143-152.
Landrum, G. (2020, February 18). Forensic psychological evaluation report.
Spencer, T. (2022, November 28). Florida judge accepts insanity plea deal in 2016 face-biting case. Fox 13 News.