Needless Assessments: What's A Lawyer To Do?

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=160 BGCOLOR="#333333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="03cdedc2ddualp.png"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D"><U><B>Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U><B>Contact Us</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id147.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="FAQs"><U><B>FAQs</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Dr. Silverman"><U><B>About Dr. Silverman</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id146.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Great links"><U><B>Great links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Mind Reader© archive"><U><B>The Mind Reader© archive</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="03d64643.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#666633" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D</B></FONT>    |     <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D"><U>home</U></A></FONT></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> Needless Assessments: What's A Lawyer To Do?</div> <bR> <div> One of my pet peeves in forensic practice is to read another professional's report which includes a complex battery of psychological tests most of which are either irrelevant or invalid in reference to the referral question.</div> <div> I was involved in a case recently in which the expert for the defendant employed 26 different tests! As the lawyer for the plaintiff, I would ask that psychologist to justify the use of each and every one of those tests.</div> <div> The most frequently used and widely accepted test in forensic practice is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). This test has excellent validity and reliability and is normed for forensic settings. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale -III and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III are frequently used to assess intellectual functioning and whether there is the presence of an organic brain dysfunction. Other than these tests, there are few that have application in a forensic setting. As an example, I have come across no studies that validate the Thematic Apperception Test for forensic work. </div> <div> Sometimes tests are given for no apparent reason at all. In one case in which I was involved that concerned sexual harassment, the psychologist gave the plaintiff a test to determine values!</div> <div> The most frequent setting for the egregious over-use or misuse of psychological assessment is in the child custody arena. There are so many variables to take into account as to what is in the best interests of children, that it is seldom that either parent suffers from a major mental disorder or personality disorder. There will be more about this in a later column.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>