One of the many areas in which practising Clinical or Forensic psychologists are asked to contribute is when they are tasked with providing an assessment of the level of risk a person may pose to the general public or a section of the public. Such risk assessments occur when the Court is considering the sentence for a conviction or when a person is being considered for release or is about to be released from prison. Pre-sentence, Life Review Panel and Pre-release Risk Assessments are often requested by either the Courts or a Solicitor. At Midlands Psychological Services we have a long history of providing such reports to the Midlands area.

Our assessments typically follow a simple dictum – once instructed, we act entirely as a Friend of the Court. Although we may be instructed by one side, our reports are independent and objective.

At the end of our reports we may make a number of different recommendations to the Court based on the assessment. We have defended our reports in court and are willing to liaise with the Court after the assessment is completed to ensure that our recommendations and any concerns we may have are fully understood.

Feel free to contact us to discuss how we can help.

Criminal / Forensic Assessments

Midlands Psychological Services are often instructed to provide a psychological opinion on clients in the Criminal Justice system. Broadly we are asked to provide information for the Courts at three different stages of the Court process.

Pre-Trial

Prior to trial concerns may be raised about the competence of the either the accused or a witness. For instance, such individuals may not fully understand the reason why they have been charged with a crime due to a specific mental disorder or a learning disability. They may find it difficult to understand the court process, follow their trial or give appropriate instruction to their legal representatives. Indeed, their lack of understanding may have been a contributing factor towards the crime with which they are charged.

Alternatively, it may be a witness whose competency and validity is called into question. In such cases a Psychologist may be able to comment on their limitations and delineate the boundaries of their cognitive capacities. In specific cases of Mental illness the training and abilities of a Psychologist, particularly in the use of psychometric testing, may provide valuable advice to the Court.

The Trial

Psychologists are often asked to comment upon the motivations behind a possible offence – the state of the mind of the accused, or the potential psychological consequences of the act on the accused, the victim or third parties. We might for instance be asked to comment upon the accused's vulnerability to manipulation by others or the degree to which they could yield to interrogative pressure (suggestibility). Again the combination of interview and psychometric testing provides a formulation of an individuals personality functioning and the drives and motivations that may have contributed (or not) to a crime being committed.

Pre-Sentencing

In the event an individual is found guilty the Court may request psychological assessments to be completed to look at issues of risk and rehabilitation. An understanding of the motivations that lead to the commission of the crime, along with base rate information about the prevalence of such crimes in the community may provide an indicator of the likely risk of recidivism. Even more importantly, we will recommend the types of rehabilitation that has been shown to best reduce such risk. We may recommend custodial sentence with a condition of therapy (and recommend an appropriate type of therapist) or a community sentence with advice to the Probations services about their input for the offender. In some case, particularly with Sexual Offenders, because they tend to strongly deny their offences at the pre-trial and trial level, a pre-sentence report may be the first opportunity to engage them about their crime and their potential for therapeutic intervention.

Contact us if you wish to discuss your case and the ways in which we can help.