The Chapter 15 of Abnormal Psychology: Clinical Perspectives on Psychological Disorders, Seventh Edition, DSM-5 Update provides very interesting information to me. Reading chapter 15 has enabled me to have an insight of the general principles of APA (American Psychological Association), and they are five. The ideals direct psychologists towards superior ethical standards of their profession. The first principle explains beneficence. Psychologists should respect the rights of their clients or other people they meet, in the course of performing their duties and responsibilities. The second principle strives to ensure responsibility. Psychologists should assist on one another in ensuring quality professional service. Psychologists should also ensure that their colleagues adhere to acceptable work practices. The third principle upholds high integrity in the profession. For example, psychologists must not participate in any form of fraud. Principle number four is justice. Each and every person is entitled to equal professional treatment by psychologists. The psychology service should be provided to a client, without consideration of race, religion or creed. The fifth principle stresses the rights of clients. For example, psychologists must maintain confidentiality of sensitive and personal information.
I have also understood the Kendra’s Law. The law started operating in 1999 in New York, and it permits judges to approve and direct continuous psychiatric treatment, of persons who meet stated guidelines. The law was supported by the Alliance on Mental Illness of New York State. The law strives to prevent violence initiated by people with mental illness. The law explains that outpatient care for patients is better than inpatient care because; outpatient care is financially cheaper, and ensures dignity of patients. The guidelines for outpatient medical care include; the age of the patient should be eighteen or more, the patient has mental illness, the patient has history of not accepting treatment, and an indication that the patient will gain from the outpatient care.
Finally, by reading chapter 15, I have gained understanding on the concept of Forensic Psychology. Forensic Psychology is a mix of the Legal system and Psychology. It aims at knowing basic judicial rules and procedures; especially with regard to, testimony of witnesses, visitation rights, discrimination in employment, and areas of jurisdiction. One of the basic issues in forensic psychology is the capacity to act as an expert witness, converting psychological issues into legal ideas of the court, and providing information to court staffs in a manner they can understand.
Forensic psychologist is a professional in the field of forensic psychology. For the forensic psychologist to be a good and dependable witness, he/she must understand the legal procedures, regulations and standards. Forensic psychologists are normally trained in different branches of psychology, for example social, organizational or clinical psychology. The competence of a forensic psychologist increases with experience. Forensic psychologists are normally asked questions which are of legal nature in court; they must therefore provide answers in legal language. For example; providing information on whether a suspect is mentally sound for a court trial. Forensic psychologists also provide recommendations to the court; for example, appropriate sentence duration details. The field of Forensic Psychology also includes; training law enforcement staffs, and providing criminal data to the relevant law enforcement staffs. In the United States of America, the Forensic Psychologists assist in selecting members of the jury.
