There are three segments of preparation completed in order to qualify to assess criminals. First, become a medical doctor. Second, complete additional training as a psychiatrist. Finally, undergo training relating to answering legal questions he will be working to prove or disprove on behalf of the court. The forensic psychiatrist protects the accused. More importantly, he protects the public from a likely violent predator.
For legal purposes, the finding of insanity is very stringent. First the mental status is diagnosed. Then, the subject must have been unable to judge what he was doing was wrong. That incompetency had to have been in effect when the crime was committed.
One example is the patient who is functional when medicated regularly. However, this patient, when the medication is working, will think he no longer needs medication. This is untrue. When he goes off the medication, at that time he is incapable of telling right from wrong.
The psychiatrist works with the courts to determine sanity and also to help those who are found incompetent. He may give the judge sentencing recommendations after evaluating the accused. The recommendations are based on the patients mental state when he committed the criminal act.
In criminal cases this will have been a violent crime. It may have been rape, it may have been kidnapping and murder. Although the evaluation protects the rights of the accused, it also protects the public at large from future acts likely to be perpetrated against new victims if he is set free.
The schizophrenic wears a mantle of normalcy when he is under the proper medication. The caveat is that, when unsupervised, he is unlikely to continue taking the pills. Gradually, he will return to the dangerous predator he was before starting on the medication.
When called upon as an expert witness the psychiatrist testifies under oath. He will have interviewed the accused a sufficient number of hours to diagnose him. His opinion is presented without regard to what either attorney is attempting to prove. But, a defense attorney may consult him and call upon him to testify only when the diagnosis supports his opinion. The prosecuting attorney will also use an expert witness who supports his assumption of guilt.
The judge receives a report detailing the findings. He and the jury are the only people the witness is supposed to influence. The judge relies on his expert opinion to guide him in passing sentence because his own expertise is in the law.
Guidelines are in place as to how many years in prison are imposed for each specific crime. Guidelines are also in place for the psychiatrists determination of competency. His diagnosis must comply with them.
There are very specific criterion to be met. At the time the crime was committed, the accused must have been unaware of what he was doing. Alternatively, he could not appreciate the wrongfulness of the crime because of a mental disease. If the psychiatrist or the judge do not make correct determinations, the public will be endangered. If sent to a mental institution instead of prison, it is possible he may hurt someone there.
For legal purposes, the finding of insanity is very stringent. First the mental status is diagnosed. Then, the subject must have been unable to judge what he was doing was wrong. That incompetency had to have been in effect when the crime was committed.
One example is the patient who is functional when medicated regularly. However, this patient, when the medication is working, will think he no longer needs medication. This is untrue. When he goes off the medication, at that time he is incapable of telling right from wrong.
The psychiatrist works with the courts to determine sanity and also to help those who are found incompetent. He may give the judge sentencing recommendations after evaluating the accused. The recommendations are based on the patients mental state when he committed the criminal act.
In criminal cases this will have been a violent crime. It may have been rape, it may have been kidnapping and murder. Although the evaluation protects the rights of the accused, it also protects the public at large from future acts likely to be perpetrated against new victims if he is set free.
The schizophrenic wears a mantle of normalcy when he is under the proper medication. The caveat is that, when unsupervised, he is unlikely to continue taking the pills. Gradually, he will return to the dangerous predator he was before starting on the medication.
When called upon as an expert witness the psychiatrist testifies under oath. He will have interviewed the accused a sufficient number of hours to diagnose him. His opinion is presented without regard to what either attorney is attempting to prove. But, a defense attorney may consult him and call upon him to testify only when the diagnosis supports his opinion. The prosecuting attorney will also use an expert witness who supports his assumption of guilt.
The judge receives a report detailing the findings. He and the jury are the only people the witness is supposed to influence. The judge relies on his expert opinion to guide him in passing sentence because his own expertise is in the law.
Guidelines are in place as to how many years in prison are imposed for each specific crime. Guidelines are also in place for the psychiatrists determination of competency. His diagnosis must comply with them.
There are very specific criterion to be met. At the time the crime was committed, the accused must have been unaware of what he was doing. Alternatively, he could not appreciate the wrongfulness of the crime because of a mental disease. If the psychiatrist or the judge do not make correct determinations, the public will be endangered. If sent to a mental institution instead of prison, it is possible he may hurt someone there.
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