Originally published: . Volume 6, No. 5. Source pages: 7.
HB 385 would amend the Children’s Code and provide an exception to the definition of mandatory reporter for mental health and social service practitioners who are serving as part of an attorney's team rendering legal services to a client. The change was recommended by the Louisiana State Law institute, and bill authored by Representative Nancy Landry.
According to the legislative digest, present law defines "mandatory reporter" to include a mental health/social service practitioner who provides mental health care or social service diagnosis, assessment, counseling, or treatment, including a psychiatrist, psychologist, marriage or family counselor, social worker, member of the clergy, aide, or other individual who provides counseling services to a child or his family.
Proposed law further adds an exception to the definition for mental health/social service practitioners serving as part of the legal team rendering legal services to a client.
“Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a mental health/social service practitioner shall not be considered a mandatory reporter under the following limited circumstances: (i) when the practitioner is engaged by an attorney to assist in the rendition of professional legal services to a client and (ii) when the knowledge that would serve as the basis for reporting arises in furtherance of facilitating the rendition of those professional legal services to that client.”
Proposed law also adds behavioral health professional to the definition.
The measure was approved by the Committee on Health and Welfare, with amendments and a 14 to 0 favorable report, on April 22. Scheduled for floor debate on May 4.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 6, No. 5. Source pages: 7.
House Bill 6, authored by Representative Honore, that would expand the current law and authorize the production, prescribing, and distribution of therapeutic marijuana in Louisiana, passed the Senate with 32 yeas and 0 nays. Pending in Transportation, Highways, and Public Works.
Present law authorizes the prescribing of therapeutic marijuana for glaucoma, spastic quadriplegia, and symptoms resulting from chemotherapy. The new law would provide that a neurologist, oncologist, or opthalmologist could prescribe under certain conditions. Proposed law creates the Therapeutic Marijuana Utilization Review Board and provides for its membership.
The proposed law establishes criteria and licensing qualifications for therapeutic marijuana dispensers, therapeutic marijuana treatment facilities, therapeutic marijuana producers, therapeutic marijuana production facilities, and physicians licensed to prescribe therapeutic marijuana, and authorizes the board to develop the policies to implement proposed law through the adoption of rules. The House and Senate committees on health and welfare shall have oversight over rules adopted by the board.
Proposed law provides that therapeutic marijuana shall not be covered by health insurance and that no licenses shall be issued until all rules have been adopted.
The measure passed the Senate with 32 yeas and 0 nays. It is pending in Transportation, Highways, and Public Works.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 6, No. 5. Source pages: 7.
Regulation, Pending in Committee A House Concurrent Resolution, HCR 56 by Representative Stuart Bishop to continue the Task Force on Art Therapist Licensure that began last year is pending in the House Health & Welfare committee, as of last week. The resolution directs that the committee established last year in HCR 159 will reconvene on or before October 1, 2015. The group is to elect a chair and adopt rules, according to the resolution. The resolution also requests a written report be submitted regarding the practice of art therapy. The measure was to have been heard last week.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 6, No. 5. Source pages: 8.
The second Annual Behavioral Health Legislative Forum was held April 17 in Baton Rouge. This year the Forum was co-hosted by the Louisiana Counseling Association and the Louisiana Psychological Association, with the National Association of Social Workers Louisiana Chapter helping moderate.
Organizer and Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) Cindy Nardini told the Times that the goals of forum were to develop relationships between members of the behavioral health community on legislative issues and to identify bills that have been put forth for the current session. She said that the group discussed 21 bills.
“Overall our attendance was increased from last year,” she said. The new associations attending this year were the LASACT (Louisiana Association of Substance Abuse Counselors and Trainers), the LaBAA (Louisiana Behavior Analysts Association), and the LSPA (Louisiana School Psychological Association), she said.
Groups participating both years include the Louisiana Counseling Association, Louisiana Psychological Association, the National Association of Social Workers Louisiana Chapter, Louisiana Association of Clinical Social Workers, and the Louisiana Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.
Legislative Chair for the Louisiana Psychological Association (LPA), Dr. Lucinda L. DeGrange, said “The Mental Health Forum went very well and is an opportunity for all the various groups with the common focus of mental and behavioral health in the state to get together and discuss upcoming legislation.”
“I was very pleased to see the Louisiana School Psychological Association participating in the forum this year,” DeGrange said. “This is really Cindy Nardini's brain child and I applaud her for her vision and hard work to get the, now annual, function going.”
Executive Director for the Louisiana Psychological Association, Ms. Cindy Bishop, said,“Although each of the respective organizations have their own positions on House and Senate measures pending before the 2015 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature, it was a good review of the various bills.” The behavioral health community has had a reputation of poor conflict resolution efforts with the state legislature. The Forum is an effort to remedy that.
“In past years our associations have been known for having conflict and being unable to work together,” Nardini previously told the Times. “Of all professional groups we, as behavioral/mental health groups, should be able to do better.
Representatives from eight associations attended the recent Legislative Forum held on April 17 and hosted by the Louisiana Counseling Association and the Louisiana Psychological Association (LPA). Above, the LPA representatives to the Forum, Dr. Lucinda DeGrange and Dr. John Fanning, chat at a previous meeting.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 6, No. 5. Source pages: 8.
The psychology board responded to a March 19 request by the Times for public documents, sending information to the Times’ Baton Rouge office. The Times had asked for the internal policies and procedures for investigations, for job descriptions for staff and paid investigators, for the resumes and job applications, hiring procedures, and a 2010 memo. At that time on March 19 the Times publisher was denied the right to exam documents. The Executive Director, Ms. Kelly Parker, said and noted, “I am invoking our right to have your request and responsive documents reviewed by legal counsel prior to disclosure.”
The board responded by mail in a letter postmarked April 7. In the response Ms. Parker wrote that the board had no internal policies and procedures for investigations.
The documents release did include a copy of the resume for Mr. Tony McCoy who serves as a contract investigator for the board. His background is in drug and law enforcement, according to his resume.
Ms. Parker’s resume was not included in the document release. Ms. Parker noted that her resume was not available. “There is no resume for the current Executive Director in the LSBEP files. The Custodian of the Records at the time I was hired is no longer employed by LSBEP and we have no access to her electronic emails.”
The documents release also included copies of resumes for three attorneys for the board, downloaded from the websites of the respective law firms. Taylor Porter is the firm for Attorney Amy Groves Lowe and Lloyd Lunceford. Also included was the resume for attorney James Raines, from Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson.
The law firms have contracts with the board for up to $15,000 each, according to other government records. Mr. McCoy’s contact is for up to $12,000. Also listed is a $19,000 contract for legal services with McGlinchey, Stafford, and Lang, but no information about this attorney was included in the documents.
Parker noted that all attorney services are established by contract and the board follows hiring procedures of the state. No information about their job descriptions were included. There was no job description or work description for Mr. McCoy or Mr. Raines. In her explanatory letter Parker wrote, “The investigator position is established pursuant to contract as referenced in the LSBEP Policies & Procedures manual,” but did not explain further. She noted that all investigators must be licensed with state board for private investigators.
Two job descriptions of staff positions, that of the Executive Director and Administrative Assistant, were included.
In the March request, the Times’ publisher also asked again for the 2009 memo from the board’s attorney to board members about the effects of Act 251 on the LSBEP. In the April response, Ms. Parker included copies of two past denials for this memo, one in 2010 signed by Dr. Joe Comaty and one in 2012 signed by Dr. Tony Young. The letters reference the exceptions to public records due to litigation and attorney-client privilege.
According to the government website, Dr. Gary Pettigrew is also an investigator for the board. No information was included about Dr. Pettigrew. His contract is listed as up to $4,000 per year.
Dr. Pettigrew appears to be the only psychologist involved in investigations that take place below the board level.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 6, No. 5. Source pages: 9.
Ms. Kylie Garber, a junior in psychology at the University of Louisiana Lafayette, has been awarded the prestigious American Psychological Association Summer Science Fellowship. Ms. Garber is one of only 12 students nationwide to be named for this honor. She is from Crowley, Louisiana.
Ms. Garber works in the Developmental Science Laboratory at University of Louisiana– Lafayette with Dr. Hung-Chu Lin, Dr. Valanne MacGyvers, and Dr. Yang Yang on projects examining the developmental processes of empathy and the effectiveness of a music- integrated preschool program.
The American Psychological Association (APA) Science Directorate with partner with George Mason University Department of Psychology to host the 2015 Summer Science Fellowship (SSF) program, an expenses-paid, intensive summer training program for talented students for laboratory work with outstanding researchers in the Washington, D.C. area.
According to APA, “The SSF program gives students an opportunity to explore the intellectual, personal and social processes of scientific inquiry and to experience cutting-edge psychological research through hands-on laboratory activities. SSF offers promising students the opportunity to equip themselves with skills essential to succeed in graduate school, and gives students who plan to pursue advanced degrees in psychological science the opportunity to be mentored by nationally known faculty.” Dr. Hung-Chu Lin, Associate Professor of Psychology at UL Lafayette, told the Times that she is very proud of Ms. Garber’s achievements and excited for her in this honor. “Kylie was one of the researchers that contributed to our presentation at this past biennial conference of the Society of Research in Child Development, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,” Dr. Lin said.
Ms. Garber will participate in the Summer Science Fellowship program from mid June to the end of July, for a six-week session, with a stipend, and travel and living paid by APA.
Members of the UL Lafayette Developmental Science Laboratory. (L to R) Kylie Garber, Rebecca Tacke, Taylor Schaff, and Michelle Grisham. The research is under direction of psychology faculty Dr. Hung-Chu Lin, Dr. Valanne MacGyvers, and Dr. Yang Yang. The team contributed to the Society of Research in Child Development, held in Philadelphia.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
The Association for Psychological Science will hold its 27th Annual Convention May 21–24 in New York City. Researchers from Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tech, Tulane, University of Louisiana– Lafayette, and Xavier will be presenting their work.
Jeffrey Brown and Michael Brachfeld from Tulane psychology, and Ashley Galsky from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, will present, “The Effects of Trauma on Social Competence in African American Youth in New Orleans.” Authors will examine the nature of specific traumas experienced by African American youth in New Orleans and the relationship that this experience has to overall psychological functioning.
“Lebanese Youth’s Inclusion Judgments in Intercultural Peer Contexts,” will be presented by researchers: Tina Sahakian from Tulane psychology; Dr. Aline Hitti with American University of Beirut, in Lebanon; Jad Melki, Journalism and Media Studies, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon; and Melanie Killen, Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, 'University of Maryland, College Park', in Maryland. Max Seidman from Tulane, will present, “The effect of prosocial behaviors on hypermasculine attitudes in African American Males.” The researchers analysis shows that exposure to community violence, prosocial behavior, and hypermasculine attitudes are significantly correlated.
Maxwell Anderson and Dr. Edward Golob from Tulane will present “Numbers retained in short-term memory bias auditory spatial attention.” This study examined whether long-term knowledge of numeric information in STM can bias auditory spatial attention.
Tulane’s Lisa Chinn, Carolyn Pauker, and Dr. Edward Golob, will present, “The impact of musical experience on cognitive control during an auditory Simon task.”
For “Effects of music listening on creativity and semantic memory retrieval,” authors Ashanti Anderson and Dr. Katherine Eskine from Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, and Dr. Edward Golob from Tulane University, review two experiments: examining relationships between music and creativity and if music's effect on semantic memory/mood was the mechanism for creativity. Subjects displayed more creativity and memory retrieval after music listening, but neither significantly correlated with mood, according to program materials.
University of Louisiana at Lafayette researchers, Michelle Grisham, Philip Richard, Rebecca Tacke, Jacob Amrose, Kylie Garber, Taylor Schaff, Dr. Valanne MacGyvers, and Dr. Hung-Chu Lin, will present “Dispositional Empathy and Social Inhibition Correlate with Preschoolers’ Responses towards Social Others’ Distress.” Parent-reported trait empathy and sociability were related to preschoolers’ responses to distress of the parent, a stranger, and an infant manikin.
Christopher Castille and Marangelie Vega from Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, and Ann-Marie Rabalais Castille from Human Resources Development, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, will present, “Effect of Leader Presentation Style and Gender on Follower Perceptions.” Results suggest that a communal, not agentic, self- presentation style results in more favorable outcomes for leaders of both genders.
Yong Dai from Louisiana State University, Shreveport, and Qing Zeng from University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth Minnesota, will present “Self- esteem of Adolescents: A National Survey of High School Seniors.” Results revealed a relation between self-esteem and religious involvement when control-ling for race, noted the program.
Louisiana Tech University researchers Camille Baker, Esther Grabow, Victoria Felix, Rebecca Granda, and Dr. Walter Buboltz will present, “Sleep Quality Does Not Mediate the Relationship Between PTSD and Aggression.”
Researchers looked at whether sleep quality is a mediator in the relationship between PTSD and aggression. “Based on the results, sleep quality is not a significant mediator in the PTSD and aggression relationship.”
Sarah McConnell, Victoria Felix, and Dr. Buboltz from Louisiana Tech will present, “Authenticity and Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identity: A Preliminary Analysis.” Researchers examined the relationship between lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals’ self-reported identity as an LGB person and their level of authenticity. A significant positive correlation was found between the authentic living and identify affirmation subscales. “In other words, there existed a relationship between authentic living and positive feelings about one’s LGB identity. Although this is a preliminary analysis, this provides important information regarding the positive aspects of identifying as LGB. Future directions of this study include examining the relationship between authenticity and LGB identity and coping style, perceptions of social support, and openness to new experiences.”
For, “Eat Well, Sleep Well? The Link Between Nutrition and Sleep Quality,” Louisiana Tech authors Danielle Newman, Victoria Felix, Mercedes Gremellion, and Dr. Buboltz looked at six dietary intake factors and quality of sleep. The results indicated no significant relationships between the dietary variables and sleep quality. “However, as previously stated, this research stream is plagued by mixed results, thus, further research is needed to gain a better understanding of the relationship between nutrition and sleep quality.”
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 6, No. 5. Source pages: 11.
Dr. Laura Scaramella has been named as Chair of the psychology department at the University of New Orleans. She will officially take over on May 18.
Dr. Scaramella is a professor of psychology, has served as Graduate Coordinator and leads the Families in Transition Lab, with on-going projects: Bambini Project, Mothers and Preschoolers Study, and the Family Transitions Project. In 2013 Scaramella was selected as Chairperson of a National Institute of Health (NIH) peer review group. She oversees the Psychosocial Development, Risk and Prevention study section of the Center for Scientific Review.
Scaramella's research focuses on social, genetic, and biological mechanisms affecting the parenting quality as well as the emergence of childhood behavior problems. She has also worked closely with Healthy Gulf Coast/Healthy Communities consortia, a group of researchers from across the gulf coast that are examining the impact of DeepWater Horizon Oil Spill on families and communities.
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Legislators Search for Ways to Fund Higher Ed/Healthcare Budget Crisis Draws Host of Bills
Responding with ideas to the $1.6 billion shortfall, legislators have come out with a host of bills to piece together a state budget during the crisis. The outlook is particularly gloomy for education and healthcare, but measures include efforts to change the state’s constitution to help lawmakers take some of the pressure off the two areas that are not protected from the chopping block. The patchwork quilt of bills put forward to both to help balance the budget include a number of measures to do away with tax credits. Examples are HB 366 by Representative Bryan Adams that would change refundable tax credits to nonrefundable credits. HB 563 would also reduce tax credits, HB 659 sunsets all tax credits, and HB 749 calls for a review of all tax credits. HB 629 reduces corporation tax credits. But most of these measures are pending. HB 766, also by Bryan Adams would allow educational institutions more autonomy over their operations and decisions. This measure moved out of committee on April 21 with a favorable vote of 15 to 1, but also was returned to the calendar.
Representative Adams’ office told the Times he is working around the clock, and consulting with the Board of Regents, to find compromises and ways to help higher education.
Bills that search out additional tax revenues are mostly pending in committees, perhaps because of the interconnected tapestry of nickels and dime saving efforts. Bills include HB 80 by Carmody that would funnel a certain portion of state sales and use taxes from out-of-state vendors to a fund from highways and education. HB 523 would use funds from Deepwater Horizon collection fund and dedicate it to higher education. HB 768 would dedicate part of the current personal property tax for education.
Some efforts to give the university systems more autonomy are doing a little better. HB168, authored by Rep. Steve Carter, authorizes higher education management boards to establish and modify, as they deem necessary, tuition and fees charged for graduate, professional, and other postbaccalaureate programs. It passed favorably out of committee, 11 to 0 and was scheduled for debate on April 30. But then the bill was returned to calendar.
Two bills to expand Medicaid and retrieve money from the federal system have stalled in committee. One such measure, HCR 3 was heard on April 29 and failed. Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Kathy Kliebert and Undersecretary Jeff Reynolds testified about how the department was planning to cope with the budget shortfalls and uncompensated costs of uninsured people served at hospitals. She noted that her group planned a “more flexible use of federal dollars” and “better integration of behavioral health services and public-private partnerships.”
The legislature has until June 11 to work out the billion plus shortfall, when it must adjourn by 6 pm.
Left: DHH Secretary Kathy Kliebert and Under- secretary Jeff Reynolds testify about Medicaid. Legislators scramble to find ways to cut and paste the state’s budget. Here, members of the film industry ask the lawmakers not to cut tax credits to their industry. At the center microphone is Michael Papajohn, an actor and stuntman, who tells how he was able to return to Louisiana from Hollywood due to the tax incentives. Papajohn played for the LSU Tigers baseball team coached by Coach Skip Bertman. In the movie Spiderman, Papajohn played the man who killed Uncle Ben. He told the Committee, “I’ve made over 30 movies, and died in most of them.”
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Originally published: . Volume 6, No. 5. Source pages: 11.
Dr. Carl Weems, Professor and Vice Chair of Psychology at University of New Orleans (UNO) will assume the leadership of Iowa State University’s Dept of Human Development and Family Studies beginning this July.
Dr. Monica Marsee, faculty member at UNO will also be taking a new position at Iowa State, as Associate Professor in the Psychology Department, she noted to the Times.
According to the press release from the Iowa State U., Dr. Weems will lead a large academic department known for research, teaching, and outreach that improves the human condition. Iowa State’s Department of Human Sciences offers programs that prepare students for careers helping diverse individuals and families across their life-span.The department’s teaching and research focus on family health, child and youth development, adult development and aging, family studies, family finances, and research methods.
“It’s a great job,” Dr. Weems told the Times. But, he said, he’ll “miss Nola.”
Dr. Marsee said “It’s an exciting opportunity!” She starts her new position in August.
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Originally published: . Volume 6, No. 5. Source pages: 2.
The SSA Flies Like a Beetle by J. Nelson
The Institute of Medicine came out hands down in favor of science––empirical rather than emotional problem-solving methods. This is in no small way due to our colleague Dr. Mike Chafetz. Two points to Mike, psychological science, and innovation, for dunking the ball. But we shouldn’t break out the champagne yet.
This is not the first time the SSA has been told by its authority figures to make changes. Its Inspector General (OIG) told it to conduct disability reviews when they are due, to conduct additional work-related reviews, to revise future benefit payments regardless of when the error is discovered, and to seek prosecutions or sanctions for false applications. Did any of this get done? Nope.
If the SSA were open to feedback, the early efforts of the neuropsychologists would have been enough, rather than having to be nagged for almost a decade.
The SSA exhibits some of the same organizational symptoms that we have seen in the IRS recently, marked group defensiveness and arrogance. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen repeatedly said––under oath––that Louis Lerner’s emails could not be recovered. The Oversight Commission sent subpoenas, held hearings, and sent letters. The IRS said, ‘Nope, there are no emails. They’re all destroyed, not available, can’t be recovered, yada yada.’
Oops. Now a Deputy OIG has located about 33,000 of Lerner’s emails, in only two weeks. And he’s discovered that the IT guys in charge of those emails had never even been asked for them.
Perhaps instead of an Office of Inspector General, whose job appears to be to nag the SSA and the IRS, the taxpayer might be better served if we install a Twelve-Step Program. What symptoms tell us that a group or organization is dysfunctional? Characteristics we can observe fairly easily are the group’s boundary and its leadership. Group boundaries are important causes of other group outcomes, described by Clayton Alderfer in his theory of embedded group relations. When a group becomes resistant to information and defensive, faulty decision- making occurs because of lack of information flow. Then, group– think can increase and so can over-confidence in leaders and members. Did Commissioner Koskinen have the correct information when he told Congress that there were no emails to give them, or was this something even more serious?
Groups that malfunction like this can lose track of their core mission. The SSA seems very resistant to innovation, the OIG, and Congress. Who does SSA really consider its customer to be? The claimant, the taxpayer, or itself?
Things should go more smoothly. We are in need of knowledgeable, virtuous, and wise leaders, who work to understand these complexities. We can’t always count on someone like Chafetz to stumble into a leadership role for the rest of us. Not only did he stumble into the data, he also conducted scientific studies, withstood unusual pressure from his client, reported to authorities, and persisted for a decade. It doesn’t matter if he is right in every single issue, he is a model for the rest of us as to the role of applied science in our society.
But, maybe humankind makes changes in just this awkward way. Bertrand Russell wrote an essay about his friend and author, Joseph Conrad, remarking on Conrad’s “deep-seated sense of fatality governing this man-inhabited world.”
“Man,” Conrad told Russell, “…doesn’t fly like an eagle, he flies like a beetle. You must have noticed,” Conrad said, “how ugly, ridiculous and fatuous is the flight of a beetle.”
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 6, No. 5. Source pages: 11.
In an email to psychologists this week, the current Executive Director of the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists, Ms. Kelly Parker, announced that she would be leaving due to her upcoming marriage and to coordinate with her fiancé for his federal employment in Texas. She noted that she will keep the incoming Executive Director informed on key issues in the community. “I hope to make this a smooth transition for everyone,” she wrote.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 6, No. 5. Source pages: 3.
For our April issue Dr. Marsha Redden corrected us that she is not teaching, but studying, at the U. of South Carolina. She’s taking statistics. Please send corrections to the Times at psychologytimes@drjulienelson.com
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There is more packed into the 206 page Intellectual Disability, Civil and Criminal Forensic Issues than you will likely find in much longer books. There are several reasons for this. The author, Dr. Michael Chafetz, has clearly been down in the trench for a while, and presents a clear, cogent, and very useable perspective on important issues in mediolegal assessment of intellectual disability (ID).
Chafetz offers readers a view that feels much like we are shadowing an expert forensic psychologist and hearing him think out loud, to talk to us honestly about the pluses and minuses of one direction compared to another, of what to watch for and what to be sure to consider.
Chafetz takes a topic mired in much human emotion and peels away the layers to expose best practices for those who want to make their decisions in concert with ethical standards, validity, and welfare of others. In honest prose and tight logic, he describes a thoughtful approach for those hoping to do competent and ethical work in the challenging area of forensic neuropsychology.
The text is structured and focused in to six lean chapters. While providing current research references and practical advice, the book is not weighted down––and so neither is the reader––with extras that do not add to the goal.
In the preface Chafetz notes his objective. “… this book examines the involvement of intellectually disabled examinees in the medicolegal assessment process through the rigorous lens of validity. It is a book about assessment and about how the finding from a valid forensic neuropsychological or psychological examination inform the referral question and the trier of fact when the examinee is low functioning.”
He begins with a review of public law history including key legal decisions in Chapter 1, “Introduction and History.” He includes changing terms and thinking about intellectual disability, and the perspective of neuropsychological and measurement science. A section on “Disability Versus Health Condition,” lays out the two sides of a philosophical and political debate and points out a quandary. If intellectual disabilities are disabilities and not health conditions, they would have to be removed from the ICD. If they are health conditions, and not disabilities, this would contradict policy and initiatives already adopted by many governments. Chafetz describes the consensus approach and explains behavioral and neurological diagnoses in this context.
He shows how this relates to test accommodations and the courtroom, in two additional sections that help the reader understand the bridge between the science and the practical considerations in forensic applications. “The courtroom is not the place to skimp on analysis,” he tells the reader. “It is incumbent upon the neuropsychologist to go beyond the narrow constructs frequently seen in court,” and describes instances where examiners fell short, information readers will greatly appreciate.
Chafetz goes to the heart of what the forensic examiner is attempting to provide, in Chapter 2,“Through the Lens of Validity.” Considering that everything a psychologist does should be through this lens, it still is wise for the author to bring this idea to the front of the discussion, since it seems frequently lost in the trees. Chaftez describes how many still rely on their training when it comes to validity: “Testing conditions were adequate and the results were thought to be valid.” But he writes, “If a psychologist’s training did not include forensic activities, the psychologist may not be aware of the fundamental failing of these assertions if the validity of the examination itself has not been assessed.”
He explains that research has shown that psychologists can not detect malingering beyond chance levels even when the psychologist was confident that he or she could do so.
Next he defines malingering and the natural human tendency to respond negatively. He lists other type of noncredible behavior that can arise in forensic work. In a section on “Base-Rate of Malingering in Medicolegal Work,” Chafetz explains the growing data on malingering and moves the discussion to the issue of base-rates in low IO examinees, a particular issue in medicolegal assessment of disability and in capital cases.
In these sections, Chafetz digs down to the specifics in tests data, individual and group findings, and how to think about results in a particular case. He provides both sides of the debate, including statistical issues of specificity and sensitivity rates. Next he reviews how comordibity and other concerns, such as language, may impact the results.
In two sections he presents essential information that forensic examiners will need: “Separating Mild from Moderate-Severe Cases,” and “Accounting for Hidden Motivation.”
He cautions that it is important to keep in mind that “the arguments of true IQ levels in Atkins capital cases typically occur in a ‘challenge’ range when the IQ is in the low 70s down through the 60s.” He discusses detailed aspects of this issue, the research on both sides of the question, various tests and procedures, and results. And, he shows how motivation and IQ level interact in results of validity testing outcomes. He provides practical advice in sections on accommodating the impaired person, using appropriate cut-off scores and tests, and using tests validated for low IQ individuals.
Chaftez explains the development of guidelines for determining neurocognitive malingering and the first and second generation validity tests. He also describes the Social Security Administration (SSA) fraud guidelines and how these are “guidance and lore, particularly about psychiatric feigning.”
He concludes with sections on “Using the Validity Test to Help Decide Impairment,” and “Malingering is Ultimately a Probability Statement.”
In Chapter 3, “Social Security Disability,” Chafetz gives relevant history and defines the various Social Security Disability (SSD) programs and how these programs define various disabilities.
In “Nature and Ethics of the Consultation,” he points to the role of the psychological examiner in the SSD consultative examinations, and that the claimant is not the client or the patient of the psychologist. And he explains that only the DDS can make the disability determination. Chafetz also reviews role pressures for the psychologist and how those pressures from the SSA with can place the examiner in conflicting ethical positions and how SSA policies can impact the validity of the examiner’s results.
For “Capital Cases,” Chapter 4, Chafetz reviews forensic psychological and neuropsychological assessment in criminal and death penalty cases.
“In Atkins cases, the practical issues become intensely debated when the IQ levels are in the high 60s or low 70s, involving analyses of how the IQ is obtained or represented, whether corrections should be made, the nature and extent of adaptive functioning, and whether the characteristics of the defendant (and of the findings) satisfy the three prongs of the diagnosis of mental retardation (intellectual disability),” he writes. He reviews case law and the Daryl Atkins and William Jones case, and presents sections on each of the “Prongs.”
“Intellectual Deficits––The First Prong,” includes the specifics for this diagnosis, psychometric and technical information, and bases for various conclusions. He includes sections on “Hypothesizing Within the Error Term,” “A Perspective on Intellectual Functioning,” and hypothetical cases consistent with and not consistent with ID. He includes discussions of the Rohling Interpretive Method, the moving of the IQ with the Flynn Effect and the criticism of moving the IQ, and test-retest concerns.
In “Adaptive Functioning Deficits: The Second Prong,” Chafetz provides information about “Two Adaptive Behavior Assessment Systems.” He provides sections on avoiding bias in the assessment and practical issues in capital cases. “The assessment of adaptive behavior is about appreciating the adaptive behaviors typically displayed by the individual,” he writes, “not the adaptive abilities of the individual.” In this section he describes concerns with assessment of death row inmates and limitations, warns about confirmatory bias, and explains issues with retrospective evaluations.
For “Developmental Period––The Third Prong,” he discusses the practical issues with obtaining data on a person’s development and challenges for collecting this information.
Chapter 5 covers “Miranda Waiver Capacity,” an area relating to whether defendants can fully understand their rights. The issue he writes is, “… if statements made by an individual during custodial police interrogation are admissible at trial, and whether procedures that protect against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment are necessary.” In “Prevalence of Miranda Impairments,” he points out research supporting the concerns such as the finding that for those with mild intellectual disability, about 50 percent fail Miranda comprehension. He explains the impact of stress, suggestibility, and Miranda language in different states, on the assessment results.
In “Standardized Assessment of Miranda Abilities (SAMA)” Chafetz describes recent advancements and sections of the SAMA, subscales and applicable research. He analyzes a Miranda warning and discusses the neuropsychological perspective of the analysis, including receptive language and processing speed. Malingering, adaptive functioning, and tips for the evaluator are included.
In the final chapter, “Other Competencies/Capacities: Civil and Criminal,” Chapter 6, Chafetz looks at the issues of capacity (a clinical determination) and competency (a legal determination made by the trier of fact––judge or jury), and the relationship to various legal issues, including competency to stand trial.
He shows examples of the law for “Testamentary Capacity” in three states and reviews definitions, research, and practical issues as to how cognitive functioning is dealt with in various legal situations. “Neuropsychologists are in a good position to apply their knowledge to a testamentary capacity analysis,” he writes, and explains that in certain situations, a psychologist might be called upon to provide a postmortem analysis, called a neuropsychological autopsy.
He includes a discussion, “Treatment Consent Capacity,” for adults who are low functioning, and “Financial Capacity,” which occurs with older adults.
In “Criminal Capacities–Competencies,” Chafetz focuses on “Competency to Stand Trial (CST).” He reviews cases including the original Dusky v. United States and those cases that followed. He points out the CST domains, including the capacity to comprehend and appreciate the charges or allegations, the capacity to disclose to counsel pertinent facts, and capacity to understand the adversary nature of the proceedings, among others. He describes the Bennett criteria, CST measures, and practical concerns in implementing them.
Intellectual Disability is a must read. It is an in-the-trench, honest, and informative guide for complex and high-states neuropsychological and psychological testing. Those who venture into the forensic sphere intentionally will appreciate the logic and candor in this hands-on advice.
Those who find themselves dragged unwittingly into a courtroom will be thankful they know a little of an insider’s expertise and wisdom in this challenging area of psychological practice.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.
Originally published: . Volume 6, No. 5. Source pages: 5.
The Louisiana State Board of Psychologists Examiners initiated a measure proposed by Senator Rick Gallot from the Monroe area to make several changes in the psychology practice act.
Senate Bill 113 would remove the Louisiana State Psychological Association from the elections for the state board positions, and also from providing the names to the Governor’s office, and give that role to the psychology board or its designee.
SB 113 would also eliminate the psychologist emeritus status. Also, the bill would remove the requirement that a licensed psychologist from out-of-state has to associate with an in-state psychologist, if he or she is working temporarily in Louisiana for less than 30 days per year. It adds that the out-of-state psychologist would be required to file an application with the board.
The measure also changes requirements for serving on the board, changing the clause for five years of experience to five years of experience in the state of Louisiana. And, the proposed law adds wording so that anyone recently employed by the board would have to wait 12 months if he or she wants a position on the board.
The proposal changes the way and time period for certain records to be maintained, providing for electronic storage and would clean up wording having to do with changing from three to five year terms, terms in the law from 1987.
The psychology board reviewed the changes at their long-range meeting last November, but sources in the Louisiana Psychological Association have said that there are some concerns circulating about certain aspects of the bill, in particular the removal of LPA from all aspects of the election. Other sources, also undisclosed, have voiced concerns about the removal of the Emeritus status.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.