Juvenile justice centers have a long tradition as an unfortunate stop for young offenders who need mental health care. Reports estimate that as many as 70% of the youth in detention centers meet criteria for mental health disorders. As juvenile justice systems once again turn their focus from confinement to rehabilitation, mental health providers have major opportunities to inform and improve both practice and policy. The Handbook of Juvenile Forensic Psychology and Psychiatry explores these opportunities by emphasizing a developmental perspective, multifaceted assessment, and evidence-based practice in working with juvenile offenders. This comprehensive volume provides insights at virtually every intersection of mental health practice and juvenile justice, covering areas as wide-ranging as special populations, sentencing issues, educational and pharmacological interventions, family involvement, ethical issues, staff training concerns, and emerging challenges. Together, its chapters contain guidelines not only for changing the culture of detention but also preventing detention facilities from being the venue of choice in placing troubled youth. Key issues addressed in the Handbook include: Developmental risks for delinquency. Race and sex disparities in juvenile justice processing. Establishing standards of practice in juvenile forensic mental health assessment. Serving dually diagnosed youth in the juvenile justice system. PTSD among court-involved youth. Female juvenile offenders. Juvenile sex offenders. The Handbook of Juvenile Forensic Psychology and Psychiatry is an essential reference for researchers, professors, allied clinicians and professionals, and policy makers across multiple fields, including child and school psychology, child and adolescent psychiatry, developmental psychology, criminology, juvenile justice, forensic psychology, neuropsychology, social work, and education.

The Handbook of Juvenile Forensic Psychology is a comprehensive handbook for mental health professionals working with juveniles in the criminal justice system and in family and dependency courts. Written by a panel of experts in the field, the book focuses on the proactive prevention, accurate evaluation, and progressive treatment for delinquent juveniles and for juveniles caught in the web of a contentious divorce or in the foster care system.

Handbook of Forensic Mental Health Services focuses on assessment, treatment, and policy issues regarding juveniles and adults in the criminal and civil systems. Uniquely, this volume is designed for professionals who deliver mental health services, rather than researchers. Just like its parent series, its goal revolves around improving the quality of mental health care services in forensic settings. It achieves this by integrating the findings related to clinical practice, administration, and policy from trends and best practice internationally that mental health professionals can implement.

The Handbook of Juvenile Forensic Psychology is a comprehensive handbook for mental health professionals working with juveniles in the criminal justice system and in family and dependency courts. Written by a panel of experts in the field, the book focuses on the proactive prevention, accurate evaluation, and progressive treatment for delinquent juveniles and for juveniles caught in the web of a contentious divorce or in the foster care system.

The rich case material in this unique book provides readers with an in-depth understanding of a wide variety of forensic psychology topics through the perspective of the psychologist working with these individuals. In this absorbing and illustrative volume, experienced forensic psychologists explain the specialized field's intersection between psychology and the justice system. It documents psychologists' interviews with involved parties, the law research they conduct, and their testimony in court on issues that include competency to stand trial, Miranda evaluations, defendants' sanity, sentencing, the death penalty, and violence and risk assessments, as well as on cases regarding family matters such as child custody, child protection, and parental rights. Offering firsthand testimonials from some of the best-known and most practiced professionals in the nation, the contributors not only explain the work but also offer comprehensive case studies that will enable students as well as readers who are not specialists in psychology to fully understand core concepts and appreciate the complexities and subtleties of the field. Inside Forensic Psychology is intended for undergraduate students and graduate students studying forensic psychology or entering into a forensic psychology concentration/specialization. As an instructional text, the book serves professors as a single resource that houses varied forensic clinical case vignettes incorporating the clinical thinking of the psychologist. The rich case material will serve to excite critical thinking in students, assist instructors in expanding upon their lectures, and provide invigorating, intriguing material for lay readers.

I am not sure when a series of volumes becomes an "institution"; this is the fourth annual volume of Critical Issues in American Psychiatry and the Law, and each has been an extraordinary summary of important forensic topics. This book makes the point that the interface of psychiatry and law is not merely a legal one, but has a great deal to do with clinical issues such as diagnosis and treatment. Children and adolescents are not adults. This may come as something of a shock to those who proselytize for equal rights for children, and to those adults (including some psychiatrists, attorneys, and judges) who advocate giving the child adult choices and/or responsibilities. Children differ from adults in many ways. The specialist in child or adoles cent psychiatry knows not only that one must attend to special social and family issues for juveniles, but that juveniles are more complex internally as well. They attempt to survive in the world while rapidly growing and learning, usually with physically and emotionally immature resources. They have had few years in which to develop experience, and do not have the psyche with which to integrate that experience in ways one would expect of a mature adult. Sometimes this frightens the patient, as in the case of a physically large teen ager whose impulse control is impaired. Sometimes it is frustrating, as in the case of a healthy child unable to escape from a dysfunctioning family. It is always confusing, and usually uncomfortable.

It is well known that many children and adolescents entering the juvenile justice system suffer from serious mental disorders. Yet until now, few resources have been available to help mental health and juvenile justice professionals accurately identify the mental health needs of the youths in their care. Filling a crucial gap, this volume offers a practical primer on screening and assessment together with in-depth reviews of over 20 widely used instruments. Comprehensive and timely, it brings together leading experts to provide authoritative guidance in this challenging area of clinical practice. Grounded in extensive research and real world practical experience, this is an indispensable reference for clinical and forensic psychologists, social workers, and psychiatrists, as well as juvenile justice administrators and others who work with youths in the justice system. An informative resource for students, it is an ideal supplemental text for graduate-level courses.

The Handbook of Forensic Mental Health in Africa traces the history of forensic mental health in Africa, discussing the importance of considering cultural differences when implementing Western-validated practices on the continent while establishing state-of-the-art assessment and treatment of justice-involved persons. Experts in the field of forensic mental health throughout Africa explore the current state of forensic mental health policy and service provision, as well as the unique ethical challenges which have arisen with the recent growth of interest in the field. The African and international research literature on violence risk assessment, competency to stand trial, malingering assessment, Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) evaluations, report writing as an expert witness and mental health legislation in the context of forensic practice are explored throughout. Finally, future directions for forensic mental health in Africa are discussed for juvenile, female and elderly offenders. This text is ideal for mental health, criminal justice and legal professionals working in clinical, research and policy contexts.