Click here to study a vignette.
Tasks:
On the basis of the vignette you read, write a paper supported by appropriate, peer-reviewed sources and case law that responds to the following:
- Define risk of dangerousness and discuss the relevant landmark court cases relevant to this psycholegal issue.
- Discuss the relevance of the defendant’s age to a risk of dangerousness assessment.
- Describe the elements or issues that a mental health professional usually focuses on when assessing a person’s risk of dangerousness.
- On the basis of the information you have from the vignette, provide an opinion on the defendant’s risk of dangerousness.
- Define insanity and discuss the relevant landmark court cases relevant to this psycholegal issue.
- Discuss the relevance, if any, of the defendant’s age to a determination of mental status at the time of the offense.
- Describe the elements or issues that a mental health professional usually focuses on when assessing a person’s mental status at the time of the offense.
- Discuss the potential ethical concerns that may be encountered by a forensic professional in the evaluation and assessment of each of these psycholegal issues.
- Discuss the potential impact of an individual’s culture in the evaluation and assessment of each of these psycholegal issues.
- On the basis of the information you have from the vignette, provide an opinion on the defendant’s likelihood of using an insanity defense.
Use resources from professional literature to support your analysis. The professional literature may include the Argosy University online library resources; relevant textbooks; peer-reviewed journal articles; and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (.edu, .org, and .gov).
All written assignments and responses should follow APA rules for attributing sources.
Submission Details:
- By the due date assigned,save your paper as M5_A2_Lastname_Firstname.doc and submit it to the Submissions Area.
This LASA is worth 300 points and will be graded according to the following rubric.
| Assignment Component | Proficient | Maximum Points Possible |
| Describe the psycho-legal standards and/or definitions for risk of dangerousness and insanity. | The description and definitions provided were brief, yet clear and accurately stated. |
64 |
| Identify and describe one or more landmark case(s) for each standard (at least two cases total). | The discussion of the landmark cases was brief yet clear and accurately stated. |
64 |
| On the basis of the information from the vignette, provide an opinion on the defendant’s risk of dangerousness and insanity. | The opinion provided was brief yet clearly and accurately related to the case vignette. |
64 |
| Discuss the potential ethical concerns that may be encountered by a forensic professional in the evaluation and assessment of each of these psycholegal issues. | The discussion provided was brief yet clear and accurately related to the case vignette. |
40 |
| Discuss the potential impact of an individual’s culture in the evaluation and assessment of each of these psycholegal issues. | The discussion of the impact of the defendant’s culture was brief yet clear and accurately related to the case vignette. |
40 |
| Academic Writing | ||
| Writing is generally clear and in an organized manner. It demonstrates ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and generally displays accurate spelling, grammar, punctuation. Errors are few, isolated, and do not interfere with reader’s comprehension.
Citations in text and at the end of the document are in correct APA format. |
Writing is generally clear and in an organized manner. It demonstrates ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and generally displays accurate spelling, grammar, punctuation. Errors are few, isolated, and do not interfere with reader’s comprehension.
Citations in text and at the end of the document are in correct APA format. |
28 |
| Total: |
300 |