Competency, Insanity And Diminished Capacity

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Psychology and the Law Unit 6 Project Competency to Stand Trial Evaluation By Ruth Jones (R.J.) According to Fulero andWrightsman (2005). There are five (5) instruments commonly used to assess a persons competency. They are usually called ‘test’, but they are in fact semi-structural interviews. There is the (CST) Competency Screening Test. This is a 22 item sentence completion task developed by Lipsitt, Lelos nad McGarry (1971). And used as an initial screening for incompetency. Fulero, Wrightsman (2005). The answers for this test are scored (2) competent and (1) marginally competent, or (0) incompetent. The scores range from 0 to 44. If the respondent scores a 20 or below, it indicated that he or she should be given more comprehensive evaluations. Next, we’ll examine the (CAI). Competency Assessment Instrument. This is a structured interview that last about an hour and that explores 13 aspects of competent functioning. The scores range from (1) total incapacity to (5), no incapacity. The mental health professional has to appraise where the individual stands on a number of qualities, such as how he or she relates to the attorney, their ability to testify relevantly, how well they appreciate the charges and the possible penalties and their ability to realistically assess the outcome of the trial. Many of these are similar to the goals of the (CST). The (FIT-R) Fitness Interview Test. Originally called the Inter-disciplinary Fitness Interview was developed by Roesch and Golding. Fulero & Wrightsman (2005). The revised version includes questions on three (3) main topics. 1. Understanding of the proceedings 2. Understanding the consequences of the proceedings 3. The defendants ability to communicate with counsel. According to
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