Learning Forensic Assessment: Research and Practice (International Perspectives on Forensic Mental Health)

Major developments in the field since the publication of Learning Forensic Assessment are integrated in this revised edition, including revised editions of the DSM-5, HCR-20 scale, and child custody guidelines.

This textbook is designed for graduate students learning forensic assessment and psychologists coming to forensic practice later in their careers. It is organized around five broad areas: Professional and Practice Issues, Adult Forensic Assessment, Juvenile Forensic Assessment, Civil Forensic Assessment, and Communicating Your Findings.

Each chapter begins with a strong teaching and learning foundation. The latter part of each chapter is assessment specific, covering available assessment measures and approaches to assessment. The authors go well beyond simple descriptions of assessment measures and provide a conceptual discussion of the evaluation process that helps the reader understand how assessment measures fit into the overall evaluation process. The evaluation component is geared toward assessing the important aspects of the construct as laid out in the early part of each chapter. Each chapter then concludes with a case example to illustrate the measures and techniques described.

Rebecca Jackson, PhD, is the Clinical Director of the Florida Civil Commitment Center, a 720-bed sex
offender civil commitment facility. Previously she was associate professor and director of the Forensic
Certification Program in Psychology and Law at Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, CA.

Ronald Roesch, PhD, is Professor of Psychology, Simon Fraser University (SFU), and Director, Mental
Health, Law, and Policy Institute, SFU, and Past President of the International Association of Forensic
Mental Health Services (IAFMHS) and the American Psychology-Law Society (Div. 41 APA). He serves as
editor of the International Perspectives on Forensic Mental Health Books Series.