Helping Advocates to Understand the Psychological Diagnosis and Assessment of Malingering

Malingering occurs when a person intentionally produces false physical or psychological symptoms with the objective of obtaining a benefit.1 1. American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition, Text Revised, American Psychiatric Association, Washington DC: 2000) (DSM-IV-TR). View all notes It is not considered a mental disorder. Rather, it is a term describing a person's propensity to be deceitful in circumstances where they believe they stand to gain a benefit.2 2. G Mendelson and D Mendelson, ‘Legal and psychiatric aspects of malingering’ (1993) 1 Journal of Law and Medicine 28. AJ Cunnien, ‘Psychiatric and Medical Syndromes Associated with Deception’ in R Rogers (ed), Psychiatric and Medical Syndromes Associated with Deception. Clinical Assessment of Malingering and Deception (Second Edition, Guilford Press, New York 1997) 23–46. DT Berry, RA Baer, JC Rinaldo and MW Wetter, ‘Assessment of malingering’ in JN Butcher, Clinical Personality Assessment: Practical Approaches (Oxford University Press, New York 2002). View all notes This article outlines the strengths and weaknesses of the major psychological tests available to assist clinicians to diagnose and assess malingering of psychological conditions. It then examines the usefulness of malingering in the legal system and argues that potential benefits to the administration of justice, in addition to the benefits identified by medical practitioners, warrant further research into the diagnosis and assessment of malingering.     

To Veil or Not to Veil: Detecting Lies in The Courtroom. A Comment on Leach et al. (2016)

For the past 40 years, lie detection has predominantly been studied in the context of police-suspect and investigative interviews. In their paper, Leach et al. (2016 Leach, A. M., Ammar, N.. England, D. N., Remigio, L. M., Kleinberg, B., &; Verschuere, B. J. (2016). Less is more? Detecting lies in veiled witnesses. Law and Human Behavior, 40, 401–410. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000189[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) examined whether niqabs or hijabs interfere with the trial judges’ ability to detect deception and concluded that veiling enhanced trial judges’ ability to make accurate veracity judgments. In this comment, we argue that the conclusions made by Leach et al. are based upon an inaccurate experimental court paradigm and suffer from methodological and analytical issues. It is our opinion that the applicability of their research findings to real-life court proceedings alongside potential changes to court practices and policies based on Leach et al. should be regarded as naïve and misinformed.     

High Cognitive Load During Cross-Examination: Does It Improve Detection of Children's Truths and Lies?

The current study used a high cognitive load cross-examination procedure to determine whether this would improve undergraduate students’ ability to detect deception in children aged 9 to 12 years. The participants (n = 88) were asked to determine whether children's accounts of an event included a true denial, false denial, true assertion or false assertion about a game played during a home visit occurring one week prior. Overall, the high cognitive load cross-examination did not improve detection rates, in that participants were at chance level for both direct examination (49.4%) and cross-examination (52.3%). Accuracy for true stories was greater than for false stories. Cross-examination improved the detection rates of the false stories, but worsened the accuracy for the true stories. The participants did however rate younger children's true reports to be more credible and believable than their false reports. Participants rated older children's false reports as more credible and believable than their true reports.     

Catharsis and Moral Therapy I: A Platonic Account

This paper aims at analysing the ancient Greek notions of catharsis (clearing up, cleaning), to holon (the whole) and therapeia (therapy, treatment, healing) to assess whether they may be of help in addressing a set of questions concerning the didactics of medical ethics: What do medical students actually experience and learn when they attend classes of medical ethics? How should teachers of medical ethics proceed didactically to make students benefit morally from their teaching? And finally, to what extent and in what forms and formats can the kind of cathartic treatment envisaged by Plato still be considered a necessary preliminary to moral learning? The three questions will be addressed by means of a reconstructive analysis and assessment of the Platonic notions of catharsis and holistic therapy present in the Charmides and the Sophist. Besides, the didactic potential of Plato’s dialogue form and moral regimen will be tried out. The ultimate aim is to investigate the possibilities of developing a therapeutic conception of medical ethics.     

The Experiences of Young Complainant Witnesses in Criminal Court Trials for Sexual Offences

For effective provision of justice it is important that young witnesses are involved in criminal trials, yet participation may be detrimental to their well-being and presents challenges for gaining full and accurate evidence from them. Innovations in court processes intended to support the well-being of young witnesses should, amongst other considerations, be informed by the perspectives and experiences of those whom they are intended to assist. The participants in the current study consisted of young complainant witnesses who were involved in criminal court trials for sexual offences, along with their parents or caregivers. Semi-structured interviews with individual participants were conducted. Audio recordings of interviews were then transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Nine themes were identified in the data: (1) pre-trial delay makes everything worse, (2) uncertainty is difficult and being prepared is important, (3) cross-examination is stressful, (4) having a voice is a positive aspect of the trial, (5) the possibility of seeing the defendant is stressful, (6) for parents, putting on a brave face and being a supporter is challenging, (7) young witnesses feel exposed by the court process and family members feel exposed to details of the offending, (8) support is critical, and (9) families place importance on the verdict and sentencing. The findings are considered within the New Zealand context as well as other jurisdictions, and recommendations are made.     

Professionals' Views on Child Sexual Abuse Attrition Rates

Child sexual abuse cases often do not result in convictions; this attrition is due to factors inside and outside the control of the justice system. The aims of the current study were to: (1) establish the most important factors in contributing to the attrition of child sexual abuse; and (2) suggest ways to reduce the attrition associated with these factors. This study focused on system improvements to determine where efforts should be prioritised. The research approach consisted of in-depth interviews with 31 professionals from various disciplines (including police, judges, child welfare officers, doctors and psychologists). The interviewees represented a diverse group of professionals offering unique perspectives. Thematic analysis revealed five broad areas requiring focus for improvement and further reform: greater specialisation, facilitating the accessibility of services, making the trial process more user-friendly, overcoming misinformed beliefs and adequate representation of child sexual abuse. These areas, along with professionals’ practical recommendations, are discussed.     

Questioning Child Witnesses: Exploring the Benefits and Risks of Intermediary Models in New Zealand

The presumption of innocence is the primary value underpinning the trial. It is important to work out how to maintain the rights of defendants while better accommodating child complainants and witnesses in the pursuit of fact. One approach is to improve how children's evidence is challenged in order that the fact-finder may have a better opportunity to assess the evidence. This article looks at the viability of achieving this aim through the use of intermediaries to question children on behalf of counsel. Three intermediary models were explored through mock examinations of a “child” witness. Reflecting on these, the article documents some of the issues and the potential benefits and risks of different intermediary models to improve this questioning of children, particularly during cross-examination.     

Empathy and coping as predictors of professional quality of life in Australian Registered Migration Agents (RMAs)

The way in which children are questioned in forensic contexts can impact on the accuracy of their responses. Past studies have shown that children were often questioned in the New Zealand courts in ways that profoundly contradict best practice. This study analyses the questions posed to 18 child witnesses by forensic interviewers, prosecutors, and defence lawyers during criminal trials held in New Zealand courts in 2008. The results suggest that, as was found in earlier studies, many of the questions posed to children during cross-examination in particular were inconsistent with best practice in terms of eliciting full and accurate information from children. Indeed, the heavy reliance on closed, leading and complex questions, along with other common practices, casts doubt on the forensic safety of cross-examination, calling into question its fairness for children. The implications of these results for policy and practice are explored.