Forensic Reports & Testimony: A Guide to Effective Communication for
Psychologists and Psychiatrists provides a roadmap for the mental
health professional who wants to provide consistently accurate,
defensible, and useful reports and testimony to the legal system.
Authors Randy K. Otto, Richart L. DeMier, and Marcus Boccaccini,
recognized experts in the field, cover all aspects of the process,
including preparing affidavits and reports, preparing for depositions,
and testifying.
Every written or spoken communication for the courts must be clear and
precise, and distinguish between facts, inferences, and opinions. This
book uniquely:
-Shows the critical differences between forensic psychological reports
and the clinical reports psychologists and psychiatrists are accustomed
to writing
-Includes and explains important maxims of forensic report writing,
including separating facts from inferences, focusing on offering expert
opinions, explaining why you think what you think, and connecting the
dots between facts and conclusions
-Provides numerous examples of experts' testimony, affidavits,
reports-with commentary and critiques
Expert forensic work deserves to be presented in a clear, precise, and
understandable way so that it is useful to attorneys, judges, and
juries. Forensic Reports & Testimony provides the guidelines and
models forensic psychologists and forensic psychiatrists need to make
that happen.
