The two forensic evaluations that I conduct in my practice are Substance Use Evaluations, what used to be called “Substance Abuse Evaluations”; and Sexual Behavior Evaluations. Often times, a judge in Family Court will order a client to undergo a forensic substance use and mental health evaluation to determine fitness for custody of minor children. Other times the referral comes directly from the Custody Evaluator in a divorce litigation, whose job it is to determine the best custody arrangement in the interests of the minor children’s welfare. Both Substance Use Evaluations and Sexual Behavior Evaluations are often requested by criminal lawyers seeking to ameliorate criminal penalties their clients face; or by probation officers seeking to measure compliance of their probationers.
Substance Use Evaluations
Purpose and Scope
The purpose of the evaluation is to determine if there is a present or past problem with the abuse of substances, i.e. prescription drugs, illicit drugs, or alcohol. The evaluator seeks to determine whether the history of usage meets either the DSM5 criteria for Substance Use Disorders (APA, 2013), or the DSM4 criteria for use/abuse/addiction (APA, 2000) in a discussion of the severity of use.
Design
The evaluation is principally qualitative in design with a quantitative laboratory component. However, whereas most quantitative evaluations use standardized testing which have been said to be like “snapshots” of a person’s functioning at a specific point in time, the evaluator using a qualitative design has the ability to work with clients multiple times over a much longer period of time. This evaluation utilizes prolonged engagement, a qualitative methods term meaning that the evaluator spends a great deal of time with the clients in order to develop a trusting relationship that will reduce client tendencies to project a misleading favorable impression of themselves (Padgett, 1998, p. 256). The design further uses triangulation, a qualitative design term meaning that it seeks corroboration among different sources of data or different interpreters of the data (Rubin & Bellamy, 2012). Snowball sampling (Rubin & Babbie, 1997, p. 273) is employed to identify additional sources of data from previously identified sources. To a lesser extent, member checking, a fourth qualitative design term points to the evaluator confirming his impressions with the clients to determine if the impression sounds right to them. These four qualitative dimensions of the evaluation design are considered to strengthen the trustworthiness of the evaluation; and when counterbalanced with baseline and truly random drug screens add a quantitative dimension of reliability to strengthen the overall protocol.
Sexual Behavior Evaluations
Purpose and Scope
The purpose of the evaluation is to determine if there is a present or past problem with sexually offensive behavior, paraphilic behaviors, sexually addicted behaviors, or sexually compulsive behaviors. Past and current functioning will be diagnosed in accordance with the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM5, APA, 2013).
Design
The evaluation consists of a comprehensive mental health evaluation with a thorough psychosexual history, and is principally qualitative in design. However, whereas most quantitative evaluations use standardized testing which have been said to be like “snapshots” of a person’s functioning at a specific point in time, the evaluator using a qualitative design has the ability to work with clients multiple times over a much longer period of time. This evaluation utilizes prolonged engagement, a qualitative methods term meaning that the evaluator spends a great deal of time with the clients in order to develop a trusting relationship that will reduce client tendencies to project a misleading favorable impression of themselves (Padgett, 1998, p. 256). The design further uses triangulation, a qualitative design term meaning that it seeks corroboration among different sources of data or different interpreters of the data (Rubin & Bellamy, 2012). Snowball sampling (Rubin & Babbie, 1997, p. 273) is employed to identify additional sources of data from previously identified sources. To a lesser extent, member checking, a fourth qualitative design term points to the evaluator confirming his impressions with the clients to determine if the impression sounds right to them. These four qualitative dimensions of the evaluation design are considered to strengthen the trustworthiness of the evaluation.
