Competency And The Criminal Justice System

Some of the most common symptoms include a of loss inhibition (saying or doing things which are socially inappropriate), reduced empathy (problems understanding and responding to the needs of others), problems with planning and organising activities, increased distractibility, changes in food preference (a propensity to eat large quantities of sweet food) and a tendency to develop compulsive rituals (e.g. watching the same movie repeatedly).

4. Made by a person with legal capacity - Competency is “the ability to perform a job.” In normal conditions this part mentions to an adult of complete mind who is able to pass the three tests defined above. Those considered not legally capable would include minors, and those who are so physiologically or psychologically troubled, they do not validate the ability to make informed judgements(Steer,

loss of interest in things they usually care about. They might stop visiting or calling people

Schizophrenia is a disease that has plagued societies around the world for centuries, although it was not given its formal name until 1911. It is characterized by the presence of positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms are so named because of the presence of altered behaviors, such as delusions, hallucinations (usually auditory), extreme emotions, excited motor activity, and incoherent thoughts and speech. (1,2) In contrast, negative symptoms are described as a lack of behaviors, such as emotion, speech, social interaction, and action. (1,2) These symptoms are by no means concrete. Not all schizophrenic patients will exhibit all or even a majority of these symptoms, and there is some

The competency standard refers to whether or not a defendant has a rational and a factual understanding of the proceeding against him or her and that he or she has the sufficient present ability to consult with his or her attorney with a reasonable degree of rational understanding (Dusky v. U.S., 1960). This standard is known as the Dusky standard and is used in both the juvenile justice system and in the criminal justice system. In order for a defendant to be considered competent under the Dusky standard, there are additional things that need to be considered. They include that he or she has sufficient memory to relate things in his or her own personal manner, that he or she has an elementary mental

In the United States our legal system makes it a priority that every individual is given a fair trial and that their due process is never violated. Issues such as competency can affect the course of a trial and make a trial more difficult to get through. Competency can extend a trial and make it more complex. It is the job of a mental health professional to assess competency and deliver their findings to the judge for further action. Competency is a very large part of our judicial system because without it, an individual cannot have a fair trial.

The author provided an in depth analysis of the history and current practices of competency to stand trial. He utilized various articles, assessments and manuals in his review and analysis. His goal was to evaluate current standards and assessments and provide a more effective assessment to be used across the board that addressed all of the various aspects of competency. Otto provided that the concept of competency has been around since the 14th Century. The importance of a defendants ability to participate

Competency in the legal system can be dated all the way back to Common Law when a defendant nearly had to possess a sufficient mental capacity and an understanding of the trial ahead of him. As stated before it wasn’t until the 1960s when the Supreme Court ruled in Dusky v. United States that competency became a constitutional requirement.

There are many aspects that characterize schizophrenia. Schizophrenics usually behave in a strange or abnormal manner where the mind is separated from reality and the difference between what is real and not is unknown. A schizophrenic therefore has distorted ideas about who they are and about life. Feelings of withdrawal, worthlessness and emptiness also appear

Schizophrenic brains are fluid filled and larger than normal, which causes the symptoms of racing thoughts, hallucinations,

Many hear voices or see things that don’t exist in reality and the effect of the outcome usually means that schizophrenics are unable to cope with their social surroundings failing in social well-being.

Negative symptoms is decreasing of emotional response and body language. This type will occur the social isolation. Patient may avoid eye contact. They will talk less and lack of replies.

While one’s competency to stand trial is perhaps the most familiar question raised in court proceedings based on my readings, there are other types of competency disputes that may warrant expert competency assessment by a forensic psychiatrist. These functions include competency to represent one’s self, competency to plea, competency to be sentenced, and competency to be executed.

Schizoaffective disorder is a disorder that is exhibited similarly to schizophrenia and mood disorders. Schizoaffective disorders characteristics consist of both auditory and visual hallucinations, delusions, mania, and depression. According to Pagel, “This seems all the more plausible because SAD (schizoaffective disorder), by definition, is characterized by criteria of two disorders (Pagel, 2014, p.239).” Many people have difficulty understanding the differences between schizoaffective disorder and schizophrenia, and the difference simply is that schizoaffective disorder also exhibits the symptoms of an affective disorder, along with hallucinations. Affective disorders consist of anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder. The affective disorder that will be exhibited with schizoaffective disorder is either bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder. The bipolar type of schizoaffective disorder will exhibit episodes of hypomania and mania, whereas the major depressive disorder type will exhibit only depression. Other symptoms that can occur with schizoaffective disorder are paranoia, impaired socialization skills, lack of proper hygiene, and inability to perform ADL’s properly. There can be many contributing causes of schizoaffective disorder such as, genetics, substance abuse, brain chemistry, and stress. Schizoaffective disorder can be related to brain chemistry, by chemical and hormone imbalances, delayed development, and exposure

Negative symptoms involve a decrease in, or loss of normal functions including loss of motivation, an inability to feel emotionally as well as a reduction in the quantity and quality of speech (SFNSW n.d.). Elder et al. (2009) state that negative symptoms to be; anhedonia (loss of the experience of pleasure), alogia (poverty of speech), blunted or flat affect and anergia (loss of energy). According to Varcarolis et al. (2006) psychosocial