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Forensic psychiatry operates at the interface of two disparate disciplines: psychiatry and law. According to the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL) as adapted from the American Board of Forensic Psychiatry, the field is "a subspecialty of psychiatry in which scientific and clinical expertise is applied to legal issues and legal contexts embracing civil, criminal, correctional or legislative matters." It is recognized as a specific discipline within medicine by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and requires fellowship training under the American Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education for board eligibility. A national written exam, among other requirements, must be passed before board certification is conferred.
Evaluation of cases may include one of several components, including an interview. Evaluations are conducted under the ethical guidelines delineated by AAPL. Depending on the case, the interview is expected to last from 15 minutes to several hours. Some interviews may be conducted on different days. Consent for the interview is obtained. The limits of confidentiality and purpose of the evaluation are made known. In most cases, attorneys and certain other parties may be present during parts of the interview; audiotape or videotape may sometimes occur. The nature of the interview generally begins with the same process as a clinical evaluation then may address questions that are relevant to the case.
Another component of the interview may include standardized and other testing. Testing is performed specific to the case and may derive from the content of the interview, but often includes tests of intelligence and cognitive testing, personality testing, tests of malingering, and diagnostic testing among others. Testing is performed under standardized conditions by persons qualified to administer such tests. Most testing cannot be conducted with others present.
Please contact the Division of Forensic Psychiatry and the West Virginia University School of Medicine for further information regarding the nature of forensic psychiatry evaluations or the discipline of forensic psychiatry.