Assignment:
Case Review: Malingering
Review the case study taking note of ethical issues in the case.
Case Study
As the forensic psychology professional conducting an evaluation for the Court on an individual with a referral question of "insanity," you have obtained the following information:
He is a 24-year-old black, male who is charged with child sexual abuse. His mother is a known prostitute who is addicted to crack cocaine. The defendant has a previous diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and you concur with the diagnosis. However, your evaluation brings you to the conclusion that, although he has a severe mental disease (i.e. paranoid schizophrenia) at the time he allegedly molested an eight-year-old male neighbor, he understood what he was doing and that it was wrong, both morally and legally. You also learn the defendant has hepatitis C, and he admits to previously molesting per-pubescent boys. On a test for malingering where he is asked to remember the following and shown the items for 10 seconds and then reproduce it in writing:
G B C D
6 7 8 9
g b c d
VI VII VIII IX
The defendant states he is unable to remember any of the items. You know that even the most impaired individuals can remember nine of the 16 items. Scores below nine indicate feigning memory issues. The defendant demonstrates a consistent pattern of malingering on his test results and with his behavior. You over-hear him discussing during a phone call that he is doing a "good job" of "fooling these doctors." You also suspect, given your extensive evaluation, that, if released, he will predate (be a predator) prey on future pre-pubescent males. You find out that he has two younger brothers, one of which you learn was sexually molested while in a foster home.
describe the ethical dilemmas that you chose from case study.
Questions:
1. Explain what information you might include/exclude in your report or testimony and the reasoning behind why you chose to include/exclude particular information.
2. Explain which ethical code and guidelines you might you be violating or might be in question given the information that you included in the report or testimony. Be sure to cite specific codes and guidelines.
3. Explain the implications/consequences of the information that you divulge in your report or testimony.
4. Share an insight(s) or draw a conclusion(s) about report writing and testimony in Forensic Psychology settings