LSCI 106: ONLINE RESEARCH 1: INTRODUCTION TO ONLINE RESEARCH

Student Project

Jean J. Powers


RESEARCH QUESTION:

How does the judicial system determine mental illness from malingering?

The individual, who asserts an insanity plea as a defense, waives all rights to confidentiality. Nothing is sacred every scrap of information pertaining to that person their entire life span is publicly scrutinized. All test results, notes made during the exam, conversations between the defendant’s family, friends, treating physician, or associates during the course of the insanity defense evaluation are subject to review; regardless of whether the forensic psychologist is retained by the prosecution or defense.

In essence, the job of the forensic psychologist is to ferret out the clues that ultimately reveal if the defendant is genuinely insane or malingering, attempting to cop an insanity plea. The obvious question, was the killer insane at the time of their crime? The astute defense attorney often times gets away with "designer defenses" to get their client acquitted. As a result, juries send violent criminals to mental hospitals and incarcerate the bona fide schizophrenic to prison (Kirwin xi).

 

GENERAL SEARCH WORKSHEET

CONCEPT #

Search Terms

 

1

mentally ill

mental illness

insanity

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2

justice system

courts

Alternative sentence

laws

judicial process

3

malingering

manipulation

psychological eval*

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4

 

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WEBLIOGRAPHY

Eisendrath,Stuart J. “When Munchausen Becomes Malingering: Factitious Disorders that Penetrate the Legal System” The Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. 24.4 (Fall 1996): 471-481.

<http://www.psych.org/public_info/insanity.cfm>

Stuart J. Eisendrath M.D. began his professional training at the Education Medical College of Wisconsin. Upon completing his postgraduate training from Northwestern University and UCSF, he was appointed Academic Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at UCSF. His Research Interests are Depression and Factitious Disorders. Dr. Eisendrath’s
publications, among many, include “When Munchausen becomes malingering: factitious disorders that penetrate the legal system.”

This article was published by the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. “The site is primarily based at Emory University at http://www.emory.edu/AAPL/. This web site's content provides accurate, objective, and unbiased information related to numerous issues of mental illness and the law.  Although this web site is established for professionals in this field, there are resources available for the general public as well. The American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL, pronounced "apple") is an organization of psychiatrists dedicated to excellence in practice, teaching, and research in forensic psychiatry. While some forensic psychiatrists may specialize exclusively in legal issues, almost all psychiatrists may, at some point, have to work within one of the many areas in which the mental health and legal system overlap” (Eisendrath). 

“The Goals of The American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law promotes scientific and educational activities in forensic psychiatry by facilitating the exchange of ideas and practical clinical experience through publications and regularly scheduled national and regional meetings. A Sponsor of continuing education programs for both forensic and general psychiatrist and other mental health and legal professionals and providing information to the public through a speaker's bureau and published literature” (Eisendrath).

“Psychiatrists are familiar with factitious disorders, but attorneys and judges usually are not. Cases involving factitious disorders may enter the civil legal system in a number of ways and cause incorrect judgments, financial costs, and inappropriate medical care if these disorders are not identified. Psychiatric consultants may play a key role in identifying these cases and educating legal personnel about factitious disorders. This article describes three cases in which persons with factitious disorders entered the civil litigation system. The role of the psychiatrist in these cases is discussed. Clues to the identification of factitious disorders are described. The article also discusses the differentiation of factitious disorders from malingering and other forms of abnormal illness behavior are elaborated” (Eisendrath).

Fuller, Torrey E. Rev. of The Mad, the Bad, and the Innocent, by Barbara Kirwin. Washington Monthly Sept 1997: 46+. InfoTrac OneFile. Gale Group. 19 Apr. 2003. <http://web1.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/447/880/36701134w1/purl=rc1_ITOF_0_A19757666&dyn=4!ar_fmt?sw_aep=plan_skyline>.

Gosselin, Gary, “Rev. of The Mad, the Bad, and the Innocent, by Barbara Kirwin. The Lancet. 29 Nov. 1997. InfoTrac OneFile. Gale Group.19 Apr. 2003.                                                                                                                    
<http://web1.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/447/880/36701134w1/purl=rc1_ITOF_0_A20098044&dyn=8!ar_fmt?sw_aep=plan_skyline>.

Keiger, Dale “The Dark World of Park Dietz” Johns Hopkins Magazine Electronic Edition. Nov. 1994. Johns Hopkins University. 5 May 2003. <http://www.jhu.edu/~jhumag/1194web/dietz.html>.

Dale Keiger is senior writer at Johns Hopkins Magazine. A 1976 graduate of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, Dale freelanced for 11 years, a stint that was short on cash but long on fascinating experiences. His work has appeared in many national publications, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Travel & Leisure, Business Week, Connoisseur, and Advertising Age. Over the years, he has interviewed one billionaire, one deaf boxer, two bounty hunters, a cardinal, one Nobel laureate, and his late Aunt Gladys, bingo champ of Cincinnati's west side. He has won several journalism awards. Most of them were pointless, but he's proud of two: a 1989 Washington Monthly journalism prize for national reporting, and an H.L. Mencken Award for Investigative Reporting in the same year.

Dale Keiger provides a vivid perspective in the field of forensic psychiatry, from one of the country's most recognized professional in the field of forensic psychiatry.  In his article, Keiger takes you through Dietz's extraordinary life. “As a researcher, consultant, and expert witness, he applies psychiatric knowledge to legal problems and issues of crime and public safety.” Dietz is part medical examiner, part private detective, part scholar of the bizarre”.

Kirwin, Barbara R. The Mad, the Bad, and the Innocent. New York: Little Brown, 1997.

“Kirwin, for her efforts in shedding insight of the complexities of mental illness, the judicial system and conflicts therein.  Dr. Barbara Kirwin, a New York psychologist specializing in issues of crime and sanity, is at her best in describing the attempts by some defendants to fake insanity and the attempts by some defense lawyers to concoct a "designer defense. Dr. Kirwin's solutions are reasonable as far as they go, but they only reach first base. Dr. Kirwin denounces the increasingly frequent sentencing of mentally ill offenders to prisons rather than to psychiatric hospitals, but does not connect this to the overall failure of the public mental illness system. Judges and juries sentence such individuals to the penal system precisely because the mental illness system is failing. From the point of view of judge and jury, at least a prison sentence ensures a minimum period of incarceration, however inappropriate the venue” (Fuller).

"Kirwin’s text contains a number of potentially misleading statements regarding major topics and the validity and reliability of psychological tests. These statements cry out for elaboration and clarification. Overall her presentation is not dispassionate enough to give the general reader a balanced view of forensic mental-health practice. There’s not enough depth or complexity to reward the reader of with a forensic background. There are insufficient details about methodology or technique to interest the active mental-health practitioner” (Gosselin).

Mansnerus, Laura. "State of Mind" The New York Times 26 Oct. 1997, Sec. 7: 24. NYTimes.com. 18 Mar. 2003. <http://query.nytimes.com/search/full-page?res=9500EEDD123FF935A15753C1A961958260>.

Mountjoy, John "South Florida Treating Mental Illness: Miami-Dade County has a new program for ensuring mentally ill offenders receive care. (innovations)." State Government News 44.10 (Nov-Dec 2001): 15. InfoTrac OneFile. GaleGroup. <http://web1.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/169/463/36218859w1/purl=rc1_ITOF_0_A80951278&dyn=4!ar_fmt?sw_aep=plan_skyline >.

Peyrot, Mark "Psychological Testing and Forensic Decision Making: the properties-in-use of the MMPI. (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory)." Social Problems 42.4 (Nov 1995): 574. InfoTrac OneFile. GaleGroup. <http://web1.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/169/463/36218859w1/purl=rc1_ITOF_0_A17742564&dyn=7!ar_fmt?sw_aep=plan_skyline >. 

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last revised: 5-2-03 by Eric Brenner, Skyline College, San Bruno, CA

These materials are copyrighted, but may be used for educational purposes if you inform and credit the author and cite the source as: LSCI 106 Computerized Research. All commercial rights are reserved. Send comments or suggestions to: Eric Brenner at brenner@smccd.net