Forensic psychiatry has evolved into a recognized specialty. Two core competencies, often overlooked but commonplace in forensic psychiatry, are the constructing of forensic reports and the presenting of oral testimony. This article concerns the written forensic report and conceptualizes it as performative writing. We first review the development of the forensic report's structure over the past...

Booth and his colleagues have made an important contribution to the emerging evidence base that shows education in forensic psychiatry topics can improve attitudes toward the field. Given the desinstitutionalization of those with severe mental illness from state psychiatric facilities and the incarceration of many individuals with severe mental illness in correctional facilities, the need to tr...

This article offers a theoretical foundation for cognitive behavioral music therapy in forensic psychiatry. First, two cases are presented to give an insight into music therapy in forensic psychiatry. Secondly some background information on forensic psychiatry is provided. The Risk-Need-Responsivity model is explained as a starting point and the role of music therapy in this treatment is explai...

§13.1 The Forensic Sciences §13.2 The Admissibility of Forensics-Only Science §13.2.1 “General Acceptance” in Forensic Science Should Not Be a Sufficient Condition for Admissibility §13.2.2 “General Acceptance” in Forensic Science Should Not Be a Necessary Condition for Admissibility §13.3 Trace Evidence and Identification §13.3.1 Matches, Non-Matches, and Hypotheses §13.3.2 Exclusions §13.3.3 ...

Dr. Robert I. Simon, this year’s President of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL), is an exceptional psychiatrist, teacher, and colleague. His contributions have earned him the most prestigious awards in the field of forensic psychiatry. In perhaps the ultimate acknowledgment of his erudition, the Supreme Court cited one of his books, Clinical Psychiatry and the Law (1987), in...

Lindsay Thomson is Senior Lecturer in Forensic Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh (Department of Psychiatry, Kennedy Tower, Morningside Park, Edinburgh EH10 5HF) and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at the State Hospital, Carstairs. Her research interests include needs assessment in forensic settings, evaluation of risk, and substance misuse in forensic populations. High-security psychia...