Review of Forensic psychology: Emerging topics and expanding roles.

Abstract

ALAN M. GOLDSTEIN (Ed.) Forensic Psychology: Emerging Topics and Expanding Roles John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2007, 819 pages (ISBN 0471714070, US$162.99 Hardcover) Reviewed by SABRINA L. BELLHOUSE and STEPHEN PORTER The main goal of this book is to provide a comprehensive examination of diverse specialized topics related to practice and research in forensic psychology. The book itself is beautifully bound and encyclopedic in its breadth of information. The editor, Alan Goldstein, is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and has been a widely recognized expert on forensic issues for decades. He authored the widely read Forensic Psychology (Goldstein, 2003), and the 11th volume of the Handbook of Psychology (John Wiley & Sons). The current volume was intended to address specialized issues not covered in his Forensic Psychology (the original planned title for the book under review was Forensic Psychology: Advanced Topics), which effectively covered the bread and butter topics in the field. The editor now has made an effort to provide the reader with a wide array of specialized forensic topics of interest primarily to psychologists, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students who practice in the areas of forensic assessment and treatment. The contents also are well suited for law students and lawyers who represent clients coming into contact with the mental health system. The book is organized in nine sections with a total of 28 chapters written by a wide range of academics and practitioners, some who are renowned scholars in the field and others with whom we were unfamiliar. The chapters address familiar topics, such as civil commitment, parental rights/child custody, and capacity to consent to treatment, that have received attention in the literature for decades. Additionally, important issues only recently coming to light are covered, including abuse by the clergy and the psychological sequelae of elder abuse. Perhaps not surprisingly with this many contributors, the quality of the chapters is variable. The book begins with an introduction to the field of forensic psychology and an overview of the content of each chapter to follow. The chapter introductions will be helpful for readers in deciding which chapters may be relevant for their needs. On the other hand, these introductions are unnecessarily detailed. The second major section of the book consists of five chapters examining forensic assessment methodologies and some of the specialized tools used in forensic assessments (MMPI-2, PAI, and Rorschach). Here we find one of the book's best chapters, by Heilbrun and colleagues, providing a rich overview of the principles that should guide forensic mental health assessment. This chapter should be standard reading for any forensic psychologist in training. The chapters describing forensic assessment tools are generally well written and informative. On the other hand, while interesting and providing good advice for presenting test data in court, the chapter on the use of the Rorschach in forensic settings did not persuade us that this tool should be adopted by psychologists who conduct forensic assessments. Unfortunately, despite the enthusiasm of the chapter's author, there is scant empirical evidence supporting the validity of projective tests in forensic decision-making. This section concludes with an informative chapter providing a useful introduction to forensic neuropsychology. The next chapters in the third and fourth sections of the book describe ethical issues in forensic practice, and various topics in civil forensic psychology, including a review of recent (American) civil legal decisions, and discussions of the psychologist's role in civil commitment, determining capacity to consent to treatment, and termination of parental rights. Although these topics are covered relatively well, there are lengthy sections describing American cases and legislation (for example, Petrila's chapter contains a great deal of material oudining American sexual psychopath laws) that are not applicable in Canada. …