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Diplomate in Forensic Psychology American Board of Professional Psychology, American Board of Forensic Psychology Concord, NH 03301 Ph: 281-814-7743, Fax: (866) 767-8159 |
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Forensic psychology is the application of psychological knowledge to problems encountered in the legal system. The ABPP Diploma has been recognized by judicial decisions, regulations, and statutes in some jurisdictions as the standard of professional competence in forensic psychology. There are less than 280 Diplomates of Forensic Psychology in the United States, three in New Hampshire. The ABPP process entails verification of credentials, and requirements for specialized training, four years of forensic experience, submission of work samples, and passing an oral examination. There is no grandfathering. For more information see http://www.abfp.com/brochure.asp and http://www.abfp.com/pdfs/overview_ABFP.pdf.
Areas of expertise:
Detection of malingering of mental illness and intellectual limitations - Faking of impairment is a possibility any time there are rewards for doing so or undesirable consequences to avoid. Malingering (faking) is common among criminal defendants and personal injury plaintiffs presenting with mild head injury, PTSD, whiplash, chronic pain, and other conditions for which there are no objective medical tests, with recent estimates running 30-40%. Malingering can now be diagnosed with a high degree of certainty in many cases by psychologists with a combination of specialized tests, collateral sources, and detailed knowledge of the clinical features of relevant disorders. For an increasing number of conditions and diagnoses, specialized malingering/motivation tests have been developed. Read full article (criminal) (civil) (New article on malingering PTSD) Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST) expert testimony - The Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) are the roadside tests officers administer to suspected DUI/DWI drivers. They were developed under a government contract and have not been subject to formal peer review by scientists. The attached article discusses the many problems with these tests and was published in The Champion, the national publication for defense attorneys. I am a NHTSA certified SFST instructor and have multiple articles national legal publications and peer-reviewed scientific journals. I founded Forensic Sobriety Assessment, LLC to train and certify top police, investigators and attorneys in the scientific issues of sobriety testing. As an SFST expert, I can review the arrest video to determine if the tests were administered correctly, and I can testify regarding the limitations in the development, validation, and interpretation of the tests. Read article on SFSTs Links to peer-reviewed articles (abstracts): SFSTs Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Judging Intoxication Assessment of competency to stand trial - In order to be competent to stand trial, a defendant must understand the proceedings and be able to assist in his defense. In order to validly waive constitutional rights, such as waiving the right to trial or to testify, he must be able to do so knowingly and intelligently. Assessment of competency to stand trial has sometimes been dismissed as a simple matter, but often it is not. The examiner must have knowledge not only of psychology/psychiatry, but also of the particular case, the court system and case law in the jurisdiction. Care must be taken not to undermine the defendant’s rights. Malingering is frequent and can seriously mislead examiners who are not prepared for this possibility. Several states, including Texas, have introduced new training standards for competency examiners. I have performed approximately 3400 evaluations of competency to stand trial, including several high profile capital murder cases. Read full article on Assessment of competency to stand trial Steve Rubenzer, Ph.D., ABPP received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Houston in 1990. Please click here to view Résumé. |
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