Description
The assignment is to compose a 3-5 page, typed report that evaluates whether a fictional character meets the criteria for competency (fitness) to stand trial for the offences he/she has been charged. You will use the case information provided, information from your text, and any other outside sources you choose to complete the report. Sources outside your text must be cited in APA format and you must provide a list of those References at the end of the report. The assumption is that you have been contracted by the court (presiding judge) to complete this evaluation, therefore both the defense and prosecuting attorneys will receive copies of it. This report should be saved in MS Word (or Rich Text format).
Format:
The report will be in a professional narrative format and include the following information (by subheading):
A. Identifying Information
B. Records reviewed (and/or tests you would recommend administering)
C. Family and Developmental History
D. Educational and Vocational History
E. Legal History
F. Medical History
G. Mental Health and Substance Abuse History
H. Mental Status Examination
I. Recounting of arrest
J. Issues related to Competency (Fitness) to Stand Trial
K. Diagnostic Impressions
L. Conclusions
You may not have information to include in every area – so don’t makeup facts that you are not given!
Case information and rubric attached
Case Information for Competency Evaluation
PSYC 434 Forensic Psychology
Case Information:
Mr. Simpson is a single, unemployed, 44-year-old white man brought to the police
station for striking an elderly woman in his apartment building. He kept repeating, ?That
damn ******. She and the rest of them deserved more than that for what they put me
through.? He had resisted the officers when the woman had called them after she was
assaulted and pressed charges against Mr. Simpson. He was charged with assault and
battery, first degree and resisting arrest. Because of his combative behavior he was
kept in a private cell and in the hours after his arrest shouted obscenities, threatened
the jailers, and made wild accusations about a plot to have him killed. At his
arraignment the next morning he was still very agitated and did not cooperate with the
attorney assigned to him, accusing him of be part of the ?plot?. He did not enter a plea
and the judge ordered an evaluation to determine his competency to stand trial.
According to a history obtained from his brother, Mr. Simpson has been continuously ill
since age 22. He had been an outstanding, if somewhat quirky student who made very
good grades, but became increasingly withdrawn during college. During his first year of
law school, he gradually became more and more convinced that his classmates were
making fun of him. He noticed that they would snort and sneeze whenever he entered
the classroom. When a girl he was dating broke off the relationship with him, he
believed that she had ?replaced? by a look-alike. He called the police and asked for their
help to solve the ?kidnapping.? His academic performance in school declined
dramatically, and he was asked to leave and seek psychiatric care.
Mr. Simpson got a job as an investment counselor at a bank, which he held for 7
months. However, he was getting an increasing number of distracting ?signals? from coworkers, and he became more and more suspicious and withdrawn. It was at this time
that he first reported hearing voices. He was eventually fired and soon thereafter was
hospitalized for the first time, at age 24. He has not worked since. Mr. Simpson has
been hospitalized 12 times, the longest stay being 8 months. However, in the last 5
years he has been hospitalized only once, for three weeks. During the hospitalizations
he has received various antipsychotic drugs. Although outpatient medication has been
prescribed, he usually stops taking it shortly after leaving the hospital. Aside from twiceyearly lunch meetings with his uncle and his contacts with mental health workers, he is
totally isolated socially. He lives on his own and manages his own financial affairs,
including a modest inheritance. He reads the Wall Street Journal daily. He cooks and
cleans for himself.
Mr. Simpson maintains that his apartment is the center of a large communication
system that involves all three major television networks, his neighbors, and apparently
hundreds of ?actors? in his neighborhood. There are secret cameras in his apartment
that carefully monitor all his activities. When he is watching TV, many of his minor
actions (e.g., going to the bathroom) are soon directly commented on by the announcer.
Whenever he goes outside, the ?actors? have all been warned to keep him under
surveillance. Everyone on the street watches him. His neighbors operate two different
?machines?; one is responsible for all of his voices, except the ?joker.? He is not certain
who controls this voice, which ?visits? him only occasionally and is very funny. The other
voices, which he hears many times each day, are generated by this machine, which he
sometimes thinks is directly run by the neighbor whom he attacked. For example, when
he is going over his investments, these ?harassing? voices constantly tell him which
stocks to buy. The other machine he calls ?the dream machine.? This machine puts
erotic dreams into his head, usually of ?black women.?
Mr. Simpson describes other unusual experiences. For example, he recently went to a
shoe store 30 miles from his house in the hope of getting some shoes that wouldn?t be
?altered.? However, he soon found out that, like the rest of the shoes he buys, special
nails had been put into the bottom of the shoes to annoy him. He was amazed that his
decision concerning which shoe store to go to must have been known to his ?harassers?
before he himself knew it, so that they had time to get the altered shoes made up
especially for him. He realizes that great effort and ?millions of dollars? are involved in
keeping him under surveillance. He sometimes thinks this is all part of a large
experiment to discover the secret of his ?superior intelligence.?
At the interview, Mr. Simpson is well-groomed, and his speech is coherent and goaldirected. His affect is, at most, only mildly blunted. He was initially very angry at being
brought in by the police. Initial treatment with an antipsychotic drug failed to control his
psychotic symptoms, and he continues to maintain his delusional beliefs about his
neighborhood and the forensic facility in which he is currently housed. He remains
suspicious of his attorney, believing him to be part of the ?plot?. He does understand that
the hearing and trial are a very serious matter and that his future is at stake due to its
outcome. However; he is also resigned to the fact that the system is ?out to get him?.
Competency Evaluation Rubric
Levels of Achievement
Criteria
Excellent
Good
Fair
Poor
General Mechanics
(punctuation,
grammar, spelling,
citations)
5 Points
4 Points
3 Points
1 Points
Writing is free of
punctuation, grammar,
spelling, citations
errors.
The writing assignment
included less than 5
errors (even if small
ones).
The writing assignment
included less than 6
errors.
The writing assignment
included 7 errors or
more.
Understanding of
Psychological
symptoms/concepts
10 Points
7 Points
5 Points
3 Points
A understanding of
Psychological
symptoms/concepts
related to the writing
prompt were
demonstrated. The
writer relate accurate
information regarding
the prompt concepts.
The writing assignment
mostly included: A
understanding of
Psychological
symptoms/concepts
related to the writing
prompt were
demonstrated. The
writer relate accurate
information regarding
the prompt concepts.
The writing assignment
included some of the
following: A
understanding of
Psychological
symptoms/concepts
related to the writing
prompt were
demonstrated. The
writer relate accurate
information regarding
the prompt concepts.
The writing assignment
was lacking the
following: A
understanding of
Psychological
symptoms/concepts
related to the writing
prompt were
demonstrated. The
writer relate accurate
information regarding
the prompt concepts.
Organization and
Coherence (does it
make sense?)
5 Points
4 Points
3 Points
1 Points
The organization of the
information was easy-
The organization of the
information was mostly
The organization of the
information was
The organization of the
information was not
Levels of Achievement
to-follow. The reader
understood the point(s)
made and how they
related to the prompt
for the assignment.
easy-to-follow. The
reader most of the time
could understood the
point(s) made and how
they related to the
prompt for the
assignment.
somewhat easy-tofollow. The reader
sometimes could
understood the point(s)
made and how they
related to the prompt
for the assignment.
easy-to-follow. The
reader could not
understood the point(s)
made and how they
related to the prompt
for the assignment.
Comprehensiveness
(are all relevant
issues addressed
completely?)
10 Points
7 Points
5 Points
3 Points
All relevant issues
included in the prompt
were addressed
completely.
Most relevant issues
included in the prompt
were addressed in the
writing assignment.
Some of the relevant
issues included in the
prompt were addressed
in the writing
assignment.
None of the relevant
issues included in the
prompt were addressed
in the writing
assignment.
Accuracy of
Conclusions (are your
conclusions
supported by
relevant data?)
20 Points
15 Points
10 Points
5 Points
Your conclusions were
supported by relevant
data.
Most of your
conclusions were
supported by relevant
data.
Some of your
conclusions were
supported by relevant
data.
None of your
conclusions were
supported by relevant
data.
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