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Delusional Disorder: Treatment And The Restoration Of Adjudicative Competence, Martin Kassen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Delusional disorder has long been recognized in the psychiatric nomenclature, however, low prevalence rates and prevailing clinical views about the seemingly refractory nature of delusional disorder have restricted data on clinical treatment outcomes for this illness. Similar perspectives have been noted in forensic settings where minimal data is available to guide standards of care for incompetent to stand trial (IST) delusional pretrial defendants. Rationale. While the factors explicated in Sell provide guidelines for the involuntary medication of defendants found IST, numerous questions are left unanswered regarding the restorability of pretrial delusional detainees. The proposed study investigated the competency restoration rates …

Cops In Court: Assessing The Criminal Prosecutions Of Police In Six Major Scandals In The New York City Police Department From 1894 To 1994, Kevin E. Mccarthy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

From the 1890s to the 1990s, the police department in New York City experienced six major corruption scandals that occurred at approximately twenty-year intervals. These cyclical scandals all involved intense public attention, examination by an outside agency, and a comprehensive report calling for departmental reforms to address corruption issues. The scandals resulted in turnover of police commissioners and political fallout for sitting mayors. Police officers faced transfers, administrative sanctions, dismissals, and forced retirements. Some faced criminal prosecution.

This dissertation examines prosecutions of police in the context of the city’s changing social and political circumstances surrounding the scandals, while recognizing the …

The Effect Of Attitudes Towards The Death Penalty On Forensic Clinical Judgments Of Competency For Execution, Eugenia Garcia-Dubus

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Capital punishment has been a part of the American Justice System since colonial times. A brief historical overview reveals a general tendency towards the imposition of restrictions on who is eligible for the death penalty (DP). In a series of decisions, the Supreme Court has held that the execution of an incompetent inmate is unconstitutional, but the topic is controversial among mental health professionals. The likelihood of clinician attitudes towards the DP affecting judgments of competency for execution (CFE) is discussed in the context of existing literature. The vagueness of the current CFE standard is thought to contribute to this …