Handbook of Forensic Psychology

Forensic psychology has mushroomed into a diverse and increasingly complex field that is equal parts law and psychology. Psychologists act as expert witnesses in legal cases - sometimes without knowing much about the laws involved, and legal professionals rely on the assessment of psychologists sometimes without knowing much about how such assessments are made.

The purpose of this handbook is to provide professionals with current, practical, and empirically based information to guide their work in forensic settings, or to better their understanding of the issues and debates in forensic psychology.

Divided into four sections, the Handbook of Forensic Psychology covers basic issues, assessment, mental disorders and forensic psychology, and special topics. The basic issue chapters present a primer on law for the psychologist, a primer on psychology for attorneys, an overview of ethical issues relevant to forensic psychology, and a chapter on forensic report writing. The assessment section discusses factors and measures relevant for assessing a variety of behaviors, propensities, and capabilities, including dangerousness, violence, suicide, competency, substance abuse, PTSD and neuropsychological evaluations, as well as discussing interviewing children and child custody evaluations. Additional chapters discuss eyewitness testimony, recovered memory, polygraphs, sexual harassment, juror selection, and issues of ethnicity in forensic psychology.

Dr. William O’Donohue is a licensed clinical psychologist and professor of clinical psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno. He obtained his B.S. in Psychology from University of Urbana-Champaign and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from SUNY at Stony Brook. Dr. O’Donohue’s research focuses on quality in mental health service delivery, integrated care, human sexuality, forensic psychology, cognitive behavioral therapy, and philosophy of psychology. For the last three decades, he has directed a free psychological treatment center for sexual assault victims. He has served on the American Psychiatric Association’s advisory committee to revise the diagnosis of pedophilia for the DSM5, and he has published more than 10 books with Elsevier, including Handbook of Cultural Competence in Applied Psychology and Forensic Interviews Regarding Child Sexual Abuse.