Please read the vignette carefully. Based on information provided in the vignette, please compose a well-written and organized response to each of the questions that follow:
i. Presentation of the Problem
Jonas has been arrested and charged with three counts of Sexual Abuse of a Child. It was alleged that multiple times over the period of one year, Jonas touched and rubbed his body against a male friend of one his son’s while the child was sleeping at his house. The male victim was 11 years old when the alleged behavior began. The victim’s mother told the police that on several occasions Jonas had come to her residence unannounced to ask whether he could take her son to his house for a sleep over. The victim’s mother also reported that upon arriving home from work one evening, Jonas was unexpectedly in her home in her son’s bedroom watching television with her son and his son.
ii. Psychosocial History
Jonas is a 32 year old Caucasian male. He was born in Kansas and was raised with his mom and dad as a Jehovah’s Witness along with his two younger brothers. Jonas’ father died suddenly of a heart attack when Jonas was 12 years old. His mother remarried one year later to a man who had a 15 year old daughter. Jonas reported that shortly after his mother’s remarriage, his new older step sister “encouraged” him to engage with her sexually on numerous occasions.
Jonas reported extensive use of multiple types of drugs during the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades.
During high school he used fewer drugs and he, “did just enough work to finish.” Afterwards he attended community college for one year. He eventually completed cosmetology and barbering school after two failed attempts. Jonas also has work experience in hotels and apartment maintenance.
At age 18 Jonas began reporting strange images, such as knives darting out of the walls at him. He stated, “They would just come at me, and sometimes they would hit me, but I didn’t get injured.” He was hospitalized briefly in a psychiatric facility and has had several other psychiatric hospitalizations during his adult life.
Jonas reports his sexual orientation as heterosexual. He got married at age 21 after realizing that he and his girlfriend were expecting a child. They had two sons (now aged 11 and 9), and the couple divorced shortly after the birth of their second child. His ex-wife had custody of their sons who visited Jonas on the weekends.
During his short three year marriage Jonas acknowledged at least two incidents of adultery for which he was excommunicated from his Jehovah’s Witness church. He was later allowed to rejoin his church. Although Jonas denies any problems with alcohol, he acknowledges that as an adult he has at times consumed as many as 18 beers in one day but reported the last time he consumed an alcoholic beverage as three or four years ago.
Jonas reported at least three prior arrests for possession of marijuana, domestic violence involving his ex-wife, and child endangerment for physically assaulting one of his sons three years ago. He lost custody of both of his sons for a full year after the assault.
Jonas’ step sister committed suicide as an adult. Jonas reported not being very close to his mother or his brothers. The person he feels closest to is his late step sister’s husband, and he would prefer to live with him at some point in the future.
iii. Behavioral Observations
When Jonas was initially brought to the correctional facility after his recent arrest, he stated that he did not want to be alive any more, but has not made any similar statements recently. At the correctional facility, Jonas has been able to follow the rules and comply with unit structure. He has kept his cell impeccably neat and often cleans on the unit, because according to him, “Messiness is disrespectful to God.” However, some of the other inmates do not wish to socialize with him due to his continuous discussion of religion. Further, his religious convictions of repent and forgiveness are his reason for wanting to plead guilty to his charges.
In conversation Jonas speaks very quickly. He often begins talking about one thing and then quickly switches to another, rarely getting back to his original point. He told a nurse, who noticed he looked a bit thin, that he tries not to eat too much, because, “The guards want to feed me so they can eat me.” However, Jonas was evasive when asked about his current charges, which was in contrast to his ease at discussing his prior charges of physical assault on his ex-wife and sons.
At various times in the past Jonas has been prescribed with Haldol, Thorazine, Trazodone, and Zoloft. However, he has often not followed through with his medication regimen.
iv. Statement of the Task and Role
Jonas has been referred for a court ordered forensic evaluation.
Based on the vignette provided, please compose a well-written and organized response to each of the following questions. When writing your responses, please:
- Use APA (6th edition) Style, with 1-inch margins, double-spaced, 12 font, with a reference list at the end.
- Write clearly and concisely.
- Cite appropriate, and especially current, literature (empirical and/or theoretical).
- Avoid all sexist idioms and allusions.
- Remember to demonstrate your multicultural competence where appropriate.
Psychological Theory and Practice
- What assessments would you conduct to enhance your understanding of the problems of the person in the vignette and how would your choice of assessment(s) inform your diagnostic formation and treatment planning? Assessments may include structured or unstructured interviews, valid and reliable assessment measures, and/or formalized assessment procedures that may be conducted by yourself or by someone else referred by you.
- Provide your diagnostic impressions (based on the DSM-5) for this individual. In narrative form, please describe how the individual meets the diagnostic criteria for the disorder(s) chosen in addition to the differential diagnostic thought process that you used to reach your hypotheses. Be sure to include any additional (missing) information that is needed to either rule out or confirm your differential diagnoses impressions.
Legal Theory and Application
- Explain the background, current presentation, and behavior of the person in the vignette utilizing biological, learning, and social theories on offenders to support your position. Do not simply restate the background information from the vignette. Instead, provide a theoretically-based discussion to understand the criminal behaviors of the person in the vignette.
- Consider the type of crime in the vignette and discuss how that type of crime generally impacts a victim of it. Do not limit yourself to discussing just the victim in this vignette. Instead obtain scholarly sources for information on how this type of crime can affect any victim, their family members, and other members of society.
- Describe the psycholegal standards and/or definitions for each of the following: competence to stand trial, duty to warn, and insanity. Identify and describe one or more landmark case(s) for each standard (at least three cases total). Describe the elements or issues that a mental health professional usually focuses on when assessing a person’s adjudicative competence, risk and insanity, and any additional items that might be especially important to focus on in the provided vignette.
Assessment, Research and Evaluation
- Describe tests or assessment procedures you would employ to address the psycholegal issues of (competence to stand trial, risk of dangerousness, and insanity). You may refer to these from the Psychological Theory and Assessment Section “A” if you already covered them there. Discuss what the anticipated conclusions would be based upon information provided in the vignette.
- Develop a research question and a testable research hypothesis regarding offenders or the type of crime that is discussed in the vignette (such as, addiction, recidivism, criminal behavior, etc.). Explain the variables in your question and the type of research study that could answer your question as well as why that research would make a contribution to the field of forensic psychology.
Leadership, Consultation, and Ethics
- What are the ethical and legal dilemmas this vignette introduced? What would be your immediate steps and why? Please be specific and make sure that you describe your process of ethical decision making and the solutions/consequences to which this process might lead. Your discussion should be informed by the American Psychological Association’s Ethics Code as well as the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists.
Interpersonal Effectiveness
- What diversity factors, cultural considerations, or other demographic variables pertaining to the person in the vignette would you take into account in rendering diagnoses, choosing assessment measures, forming case conceptualizations, and designing the treatment plan? Be sure to discuss cultural/diversity factors that could apply even if they are not explicitly mentioned in the vignette.
- Your writing, use of citations, ability to form a logical argument, and proper APA Style, including the use of paraphrasing, will be evaluated as a measure of your interpersonal effectiveness. No response is required for “B”.
