Competency modeling is a method of collecting and organizing job information and worker attributes into broad competencies. Competencies are descriptions of the characteristics and qualities that a person needs to possess to perform a job successfully. Although the practice of competency modeling is relatively new to the field of industrial and organizational psychology, the idea
The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, which, according to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Ford v. Wainwright (1986), includes the execution of the insane. Thus, it is unconstitutional to execute condemned inmates who become incompetent while on death row while they remain in an incompetent state. Statutes set
To date, very few instruments have been developed for the purpose of assisting evaluators in the assessment of competency for execution. One of the first—the Checklist for Competency for Execution Evaluations— is described in this research paper. The checklist consists of four sections that describe important and relevant psycholegal criteria to be considered in this
The Hopkins Competency Assessment Test (HCAT) was developed as a brief screening measure for assessing a patient’s capacity to provide informed consent and prepare advance directives regarding medical treatments. As mental health clinicians have increasingly recognized the importance of accurately assessing a patient’s ability to provide informed con-sent, the need for measures to quantify this
Evaluations of competency to stand trial are the most common source of referrals to forensic mental health practitioners. While the clear majority of those examined are viewed as competent to proceed, those found incompetent to stand trial (IST) may be subjected to treatment and training to enable them to proceed to trial, typically referred to
The law in the United States requires that criminal defendants be competent to participate in the adjudicatory proceedings against them. Legal competence is a complex construct that includes both the fundamental capacities needed to participate in the process (adjudicative competence) and a degree of autonomy in making important case decisions (decisional competence). This research paper
In the United States, it is permissible, with the approval of the judge, for a criminal defendant to act as his or her own attorney when the case goes to court. Legal and clinical issues related to the defendant’s being competent to waive the right to legal representation are discussed in this research paper. In
Appellate review of a felony conviction is a constitutional right. The validity of a relinquishment of this or any other constitutional right rests on whether the waiver is made knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily. There are two distinct arenas where waivers of appeals are encountered: plea bargains in criminal cases and death-sentenced inmates “volunteering” for execution.
The legal standard for competency to stand trial in the United States was articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Dusky v. United States (1960), wherein the Court determined that a defendant must have “sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding” and a “rational as well as
Competency to confess refers to a suspect’s ability to make a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of the Miranda warnings at the time of police questioning. Confessions that are given after a suspect waives his or her Miranda rights are sometimes challenged on the basis that the suspect was not competent to confess, meaning that