skip to main content

Lauren Kois and the Collaborative Law and Social Sciences laboratory at the University of Alabama

  • Welcome!
  • Who we are
  • What we do
  • Applicants
  • Resources
  • News
  • Welcome!
  • Who we are
  • What we do
  • Applicants
  • Resources
  • News

CONGRATS Dr. Kois, Honorary CLASS GRA Lauren Meaux, Drs. Cox and Kelley! They just had a new publication accepted by Psychology, Public Policy, and Law.

1/27/2021

 
Picture
​Title: Evaluators' Experiences with Combined Competence to Proceed and
Mental State Evaluations. 
​
Abstract: Combined evaluations of competence to proceed (CTP) and mental state at the time of the offense (MSO) are commonplace, yet underexamined in the literature. Given the high stakes faced by defendants and substantial arguments that can be made for and against combined evaluations, it is imperative that we understand how practitioners navigate this process. In this exploratory practitioner study (N = 43), we surveyed professional practices and beliefs concerning combined evaluations as well as how, per practitioners’ self-reports, they were influenced by jurisdictional policy. As is recommended in nascent areas of research, we undertook both quantitative and qualitative methods. Many evaluators reported a disconnect between the spirit of adjudicative competence and the combined CTP/MSO evaluation process. On the whole, evaluators reported that combined evaluations accounted for 29% of their CTP and/or MSO referrals, but only 10 (23.3%) reported that their jurisdiction specifically addressed how to conduct them. They tended to endorse that seemingly incompetent defendants cannot consent to MSO evaluations, and so MSO reports should not be submitted for these defendants. They provided some consensus that seemingly incompetent defendants can provide useful information later integrated into MSO evaluations and that CTP and MSO opinions should be documented separately. We recommend that jurisdictions include statutory language directing evaluators to refrain from submitting MSO opinions when they believe defendants are incompetent, for jurisdictions to explicitly require separate CTP and MSO reports and to distinguish disclosure rules for each report type, and further professional discussion about the nature and process of combined evaluations.

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018

    Categories

    All
    Cassandra Jensen
    IAFMHS
    Leadership
    Student Acknowledgment
    Students Being Awesome

Contact Us

UA Logo
Accessibility | Equal Opportunity | UA Disclaimer | Site Disclaimer | Privacy |
Copyright © 2019 | The University of Alabama | Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 | (205) 348-6010
Website provided by the Center for Instructional Technology, Office of Information Technology