Clinical Forensic Evaluations

Clinical and Forensic Evaluations

The interaction between psychology and laws is based on the common focus of evaluating and understanding human behavior. Since psychologists are involved in assessing human behavior, they are called upon in certain legal cases to provide insights that may help the court to issue a sound ruling. Nevertheless, there are significant differences between psychologist working in clinical traditional settings and those conducting a forensic evaluation of the court. Psychologists may be asked to conduct both clinical and forensic assessment, and it is essential to understand the differences between the two. While clinical psychology deals with assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of human behavior and functioning,

Clinical psychological interviews are conducted with a primary goal of promoting the well-being of the clients. The approach to the clinical interview is therapeutic in nature, and the interviewer attempts to establish harmony, empathy, support, and understanding to the client. The information collected from the interview is confidential. Moreover, the clinical psychology does not focus on the competency of the client. In contrast, forensic interviews are conducted with a primary goal of gaining facts related to a legal case. Forensic interviews are guided by the judicial system and require accurate recollection of relevant events and evidence. The forensic interviewer is supposed to be objective, neutral and avoid bias. Moreover, the client’s competency to stand trial is in question during a forensic interview (Silovsky, J. F.,

The psychiatric diagnoses conducted in clinical psychology are important in the treatment strategy. For instance, a clinical psychologist may conduct an IQ exam to determine whether the client is mentally deficient. However, unlike forensic assessment, the diagnosis does not provide more information about the client’s competency to stand trial. Forensic evaluation requires multiple tests to be completed to fully assess the client’s cognitive, personality and emotional functionality. According to the American Academy of Psychology, conducting a complete forensic evaluation requires seeking relevant information from more than one source in order to test different plausible rival hypotheses (American Academy of Psychology)

Clinical psychologists write private reports about their clients but may at times write reports for insurance reimbursements. The reports written by the clinical psychologist may include client diagnosis, therapeutic interventions, and treatment. In contrast, forensic reports should be written in a manner that they can assist the court in decision making. The forensic reports include competency, abuse, personal injury, divorce, criminal proceedings and many other legal reports (Hugaboom, D.,