Sentencing Decisions: Role of Forensic Psychologists and the Tools They Use

Sentencing Decisions
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Introduction
Since the U.S Supreme Court's judgment in Dusky v. United States (1960), the concept of competency to stand trial gained momentum, especially among defendant's attorneys. Under this concept, a defendant cannot be viewed as an accountable individual but as a mere object that the prosecution is attempting to punish if he/she is not competent to stand trial. In recent years, the United States legal system has expanded the responsibilities of forensic psychologists to include observations of the defendant's behavior during court proceedings. Based on the case of Mr. Bell, this paper examines the role of a forensic psychologist in determining the competency to stand trial, tools used to establish the competency of the defendant, and the type of facility that suits the defendant.
Role of forensic psychologists in determining competency to stand trial
Under the legal system, insanity is not a psychiatric concept but rather a legal one. This implies that suffering from a mental illness does not inevitably indicate that the accused is insane. Therefore, Sandi Smith, a forensic psychologist, conducted a psychiatric evaluation to determine if Mr. Bell was competent to stand trial. A psychiatric evaluation is an assessment designed to diagnose developmental, behavioral, and emotional disorders or conditions experienced by an individual. On the other hand, competency to stand trial requires that a defendant must appreciate the crime he committed, understand the legal proceedings against him and the subsequent penalties or punishment, and comprehend courtroom procedures and the functions of everyone in it (Roesch, 2016). Therefore, while determining whether Mr. Bell was competent to trial, Sand Smith is likely to have evaluated numerous aspects of Mr. Bell's family history, individual history, medical history, substance history, social history, environmental influences, and mental status, and substance abuse.
When a mental illness is discovered during the psychiatric evaluation, the psychologist must determine whether the illness had a bearing on the defendant when he/she committed the crime. Sand Smith discovered that Mr. Bell had Bipolar One Disorder but concluded that Mr. Bell was competent to stand trial. Before arriving at that conclusion, Sand Smith is likely to have answered the following questions;
* What mental illness is the defendant suffering from, and what symptoms is he displaying?
* What is the relationship between the mental illness symptoms and the mental capabilities required under the jurisdiction standard for competency to stand trial?
Assessment tools
* Fitness Interview Test-Revised (FIT-R)
The Fitness Interview Test-Revised (FIT-R) is an assessment tool to ev...