Forensic Psychology For Dummies (107 page)

Seizures

Vomiting

Some vets report that a family pet may also be a ‘proxy’; owners deliberately hurt a pet in order to get sympathy and medical attention.

The term Munchausen comes from the 18th-century German soldier and politician Baron von Münchausen, who was renowned for inventing incredible stories about his travels and military exploits.

Making Judgements for Risk Assessment

At different stages through the legal process, before, during or after the trial, a forensic psychologist may be called upon to assess how dangerous the defendant is likely to be in any future situation. This process is called
risk assessment
and includes the possibility that he may harm himself or others through violence or sexual assaults.

Risk assessment is becoming a major and extremely challenging task in many different settings. In general, recommendations are based on reviews of static, relatively unchanging factors alongside more dynamic risk factors that are potentially open to change.

The static risk factors tend to be historical, such as:

Previous violence

Employment problems

Clear evidence of psychopathy

Substance abuse

The dynamic factors are more directly psychological issues:

Lack of insight

Impulsivity

Unfeasible plans for the future

Social support and how the individual dealt with any previous forms of remedial intervention

Potential stressors

In order to illustrate how risk assessment works, I compare two different offenders: