Zur Qualitätssicherung zivilrechtlicher Begutachtungen

Quality assurance in forensic psychiatry must take into account the different requirements for assessment in criminal, civil and social law. For civil law assessments the following measures are recommended: a reading list of articles reflecting the expert consensus, guidelines, a list of approved expert supervisors, an exemplary curriculum, modification of the present certificatation by the German Society for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Psychosomatic and Neurology (DGPPN) with more emphasis on civil law and a continuous process of education and recertification. Besides an interdisciplinary statement defining minimum requirements for civil law assessments, measures for continuous quality improvement should also be established in cooperation with representatives of the judicature.     

ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS OF ESTABLISHING GUIDELINES FOR THE USE OF BEHAVIORAL TECHNIQUES

Several guidelines surrounding the use of behavioral procedures have recently appeared, the best of which is that of the National Association of Retarded Citizens (NARC). Some issues and implications of the establishment of guidelines are briefly reviewed in the context of the NARC guidelines. Issues include the factual versus opinion bases for guidelines and the need to continue the development of explicit behavioral criteria for assessing staff competence. Implications for programs include the impact of guidelines on professional boundaries, administrative decision-making, and budgeting, together with the dangers of expanding the regulatory bureaucracy. Several miscellaneous impacts are noted, including a potential for curbing innovative behavioral technology.     

Qualitätssicherung von Gerichtsgutachten im Familienrecht

In recent years many controversial verdicts and studies have brought discussions about the quality of expert opinions in family law into the focus of the media, political and expert public spheres. With the coalition contract, the ruling parties agreed on improving the quality of expert opinions, especially in the sector of family law, in collaboration with professional institutions. Representatives of the legal, psychological and medical associations, the Federal Bar Association and the Federal Chamber of Psychotherapists worked out guidelines for expert opinions in family law in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection. The three main quality assurance aspects are scientifically founded procedures, transparency and traceability. These requirements are concretely illustrated in this article with recommendations concerning the procedure and composition of expert opinions.     

From the lab to the police station. A successful application of eyewitness research

The U.S. Department of Justice released the first national guide for collecting and preserving eyewitness evidence in October 1999. Scientific psychology played a large role in making a case for these procedural guidelines as well as in setting a scientific foundation for the guidelines, and eyewitness researchers directly participated in writing them. The authors describe how eyewitness researchers shaped understanding of eyewitness evidence issues over a long period of time through research and theory on system variables. Additional pressure for guidelines was applied by psychologists through expert testimony that focused on deficiencies in the procedures used to collect the eyewitness evidence. DNA exoneration cases were particularly important in leading U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno to notice the eyewitness literature in psychology and to order the National Institute of Justice to coordinate the development of national guidelines. The authors describe their experience as members of the working group, which included prosecutors, defense lawyers, and law enforcement officers from across the country.     

Training the next generation of counseling psychologists in the practice of telepsychology

Training programs that integrate the use of technology are needed to prepare students for the future of service delivery in psychology. Training opportunities in telepsychology can equip students to develop, implement, and evaluate innovative modalities for mental health care. However, few options are available for trainees seeking to acquire these experiences, and while guidelines for service provision using technology are emerging, guidelines for and documented examples of training programs in telepsychology are virtually non-existent. The Telehealth Counseling Clinic, located at the Texas A&M Health Science Center, has developed a training model to prepare the next generation of psychologists to work with new technology to provide counseling services to low-income and uninsured individuals living in designated Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas in rural Texas. Training competencies necessary to serve this population through telepsychology are discussed and preliminary evaluation data of the training program are presented.     

Civil commitment laws in nineteenth-century New York

The roots of nineteenth-century American civil commitment law lay in English common law, in particular poor law, with its mixed motives of helping lunatics and of protecting the community from them. As state institutions assumed an increasingly large share of the burden of restraint in the 1840s and 1850s, such confinement decisions became subject to greater public scrutiny. This can be seen particularly clearly in New York State, which in 1842 passed a law requiring that two physicians examine each alleged lunatic and report their findings to a judge who then made the final commitment decision. After the Civil War, a number of legal decisions limited the state's power to initiate civil commitments to cases of clear social danger, though families were not so confined. An 1874 statute further tightened procedural guidelines for civil commitments. A State Commissioner in Lunacy was appointed to oversee the internal workings of lunatic asylums. Yet such legal “reforms” failed to slow the increasing tendency of both families and communities to use such institutions as long-term holding places for the socially marginal or threatening.     

Recommandations de l’ITC pour la traduction et l’adaptation de tests (seconde édition)

The second edition of the ITC guidelines for translating and adapting tests was prepared between 2005 and 2015 to improve upon the first edition, and to respond to advances in testing technology and practices. The 18 guidelines are organized into six categories to facilitate their use: pre-condition (3), test development (5), confirmation (4), administration (2), scoring and interpretation (2), and documentation (2). For each guideline, an explanation is provided along with suggestions for practice. A checklist is provided to improve the implementation of the guidelines.     

Guidelines are not enough: The need for written sentencing opinions

Guideline sentencing systems, including the new federal guidelines, have not settled on a clear conception of when and how a trial judge should explain sentences. Indeterminate sentencing systems did not have a tradition of written sentencing decisions and recent sentencing reforms do not focus on the trial judge's role. This article suggests the many advantages of written sentencing opinions. Initial experience under the federal sentencing guidelines bolsters the conclusion that written sentencing opinions in appropriate cases—including both sentences “within” guidelines and guideline “departures”—are the next step in the evolving law of sentencing and the best way to recognize trial judges as an essential engine of principled change.     

Design and Development of the ITC Guidelines on Computer-Based and Internet-Delivered Testing

This article describes the design and development of the International Test Commission's (ITC, this issue) Guidelines for Computer-Based and Internet-Delivered Testing. It examines some of the reasons why the ITC Council decided to invest in a program of research, consultation, and conferences designed to develop internationally agreed-on guidelines specifically aimed at computer- and Internet-based testing and describes the methodology involved in developing and disseminating the guidelines. Through a process of reviewing relevant literature and organizing conferences and wide consultations, a set of internationally recognized guidelines that highlighted good practice issues in computer/Internet testing were developed. The guidelines will raise awareness among all stakeholders in the testing process of what constitutes good practice in computer/Internet testing and can be used as a benchmark to set local standards and guidelines. Further issues are raised from the research, not least the need to ensure that with advances in technology and science comes the updating of training in tests and testing to keep up with such advances.     

The patient-physician relationship and the allocation of scarce resources: a law and economics approach

Patients with insufficient financial resources place physicians in a conflict of interest between the patients' needs and the financial interests of the physician, other patients, and society. Not only must physicians act ethically, but they must avoid liability for violating their legal duties to their patients. The traditional rules of contract and malpractice law that govern the patient-physician relationship do not provide satisfactory guidelines. Better answers are found in the rules of fiduciary law, but only with regard to direct conflicts between patients and physicians and only at the risk of reducing patient access to care. Certain types of legislative action can resolve these conflicts by altering the traditional legal rules, but care must be taken to preserve patient-physician trust, which the legal rules were designed to enhance.     

PATERNITY BETWEEN LAW AND BIOLOGY: THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ISLAMIC LAW OF PATERNITY IN THE WAKE OF DNA TESTING

Abstract: The discovery of DNA paternity tests has stirred a debate concerning the definition of paternity and whether the grounds for such a definition are legal or biological. According to the classical rules of Islamic law, paternity is established and negated on the basis of a valid marriage. Modern biomedical technology raises the question of whether paternity tests can be the sole basis for paternity, even independently of marriage. Although on the surface this technology seems to challenge the authority of Islamic law in this area, the paper argues that classical Islamic rulings pertaining to paternity issues continue to hold higher authority even in cases of conflict with modern technology‐based alternatives. Through closer analysis, the paper traces the emergence of a differentiation in the function of DNA tests between identity and paternity verification. While the former is accepted without reservation, the latter is approved only when it does not violate the rulings of Islamic law.     

Drug testing in the public and private-sector workplaces: Technical and legal issues

This paper examines the technical and legal issues surrounding the implementation of drug testing programs in the public and private-sector workplaces. In Part I of the paper, technical issues important to an understanding of urinalysis drug testing methods are examined. In Part II, recent federal case law is reviewed in order to identify the different legal parameters associated with drug testing in the public and private sectors. Part III presents guidelines for employers who already have or are about to implement a drug testing program within their organizations.     

What Are the Confidentiality Rights of Collaterals in Family Therapy?

The privacy rights of collateral family members constitute one of the most complex ethical issues in the field of family therapy. The author opens with four case studies which illustrate some of the dilemmas. The opening section reviews the APA Ethics Code on this topic, followed by an in depth analysis of confidentiality issues in marital therapy and the special ethical dilemmas of high conflict, child custody cases. The author reviews the scant case law on this topic and closes with a set of best practices guidelines for the clinician.     

ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests (Second Edition)

The second edition of the International Test Commission Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests was prepared between 2005 and 2015 to improve upon the first edition, and to respond to advances in testing technology and practices. The 18 guidelines are organized into six categories to facilitate their use: pre-condition (3), test development (5), confirmation (4), administration (2), scoring and interpretation (2), and documentation (2). For each guideline, an explanation is provided along with suggestions for practice. A checklist is provided to improve the implementation of the guidelines.     

The Evolution of Cancer Risk Assessment in the Era of Next Generation Sequencing

Cancer genetics professionals face a new opportunity and challenge in adapting to the availability of cancer genetic testing panels, now available as a result of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology. While cancer panels have been available for over a year, we believe that there is not yet enough data to create practice guidelines. Despite this, a year of experience allows us to provide our opinion on points to consider as cancer genetic counselors incorporate this testing technology into genetic counseling practice models. NGS technology offers the ability to potentially diagnose hereditary cancer syndromes more efficiently by testing many genes at once for a fraction of what it would cost to test each gene individually. However, there are limitations and additional risks to consider with these tests. Obtaining informed consent for concurrent testing of multiple genes requires that genetics professionals modify their discussions with patients regarding the potential cancer risks and the associated implications to medical management. We propose dividing the genes on each panel into categories that vary by degree of cancer risk (e.g. penetrance of the syndrome) and availability of management guidelines, with the aim to improve patient understanding of the range of information that can come from this testing. The increased risk for identifying variants of uncertain significance (VUS) when testing many genes at once must be discussed with patients. Pretest genetic counseling must also include the possibility to receive unexpected results as well as the potential to receive a result in the absence of related medical management guidelines. It is also important to consider whether a single gene test remains the best testing option for some patients. As panels expand, it is important that documentation reflects exactly which genes have been analyzed for each patient. While this technology holds the promise of more efficient diagnosis for many of our patients, it also comes with new challenges that we must recognize and address.     

英美法系中的心理学专家证人

专家证人指的是根据法庭的要求,依靠专业知识和技术,就法庭审案过程中所涉及的有关本专业的内容,向法庭提供的有科学依据的书面报告并直接出庭作证的各学科的专家。心理学专家证人就是心理学专家作为专家证人进行出庭作证。英美法系与我国实行的大陆法系存在着差异,该文希望通过系统地介绍英美法系心理学专家证人的发展历史及作用、心理学专家证人的工作程序、存在的争议、已有的实证研究等,为国内法律界和心理学界开辟一个新的视角,并探讨心理学专家证人在我国司法系统实施的可能性     

Psychologists' ethical responsibilities in Internet-based groups: issues, strategies, and a call for dialogue

How can psychologists participate ethically as facilitators, advisers, and peer members in Internet-based groups? The astonishing growth of Internet technology and on-line groups has outpaced the development of formal ethical guidelines for psychologists involved in on-line groups. This article provides an initial appraisal of psychologists' ethical responsibilities in discussion, support, and self-help groups that operate on the Internet and offers practical strategies for avoiding ethical problems. By presenting initial strategies and guidelines for ethical behavior in Internet-based groups, the authors hope to stimulate the field to further discuss and analyze these issues.     

Much Ado About Something: An Ethic of the Common Good for Information Technology

As the culture of information technology grows and with it the exacerbation of associated problems, so does the body of literature that seeks to reflect on its impact and prospects. The advancements in information technology tend to be outpacing critical reflection and solid ethical analysis. The quality of the foundational ethical work done in information technology ethics has been inadequate, consisting of applied ethics or an appeal to law. This article considers how the richer perspective—the common good, as expressed through the lens of the Roman Catholic Church—can serve as a hermeneutic in the field of information technology ethics, offering a more substantial foundation to address pressing controversial issues associated with this burgeoning field and function as a guide for future developments in this industry. The common good can supplement the operative ways of appealing to law and business ethics to address crime and abuse associated with the World Wide Web with a specifically Roman Catholic paradigm and, in turn, offer a broader and richer appreciation of the societal-wide context that information technology impacts.     

Record keeping guidelines

These guidelines are designed to educate psychologists and provide a framework for making decisions regarding professional record keeping. State and federal laws, as well as the American Psychological Association's "Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct," generally require maintenance of appropriate records of psychological services. The nature and extent of the record will vary depending upon the purpose, setting, and context of the psychological services. Within these guidelines, more directive language has been used when a particular guideline is based specifically on mandatory provisions of the Ethics Code or law. However, some areas are not addressed in those enforceable standards and regulations. In these areas, more aspirational language has been used. This document aims to elaborate and provide assistance to psychologists as they attempt to establish their own record keeping policies and procedures.