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Assignment 3: Individual Research Task

Individual Research: Overview

As a forensic psychology professional, you need to critically analyze statutory and case laws related to psycholegal issues and correctly apply the knowledge from your analysis in your work. The individual research course projects will provide you with the opportunity to analyze the landmark cases related to psycholegal issues.

In Module 1, identify at least one landmark legal case or court decision for each of these important psycholegal areas: CST, criminal responsibility (MSO), the right to mental health treatment, the right to refuse psychiatric treatment, coercion to mental health treatment, and participation in treatment and civil commitment of sex offenders.

Critically analyze the essence of the selected cases.

You may be asking what it means to discuss the “essence” of a court decision. The essence of a court decision involves two things: (1) the issue under dispute and (2) how the court decided that issue. You can usually summarize this information in one or two paragraphs. Remember that you need to identify the final decision by the highest court. Landmark cases are almost always the cases that have been appealed to higher courts for a ruling on an issue of law.

Looking Ahead

Through Modules 2 and 3, you should continue to conduct research on professional literature to find additional information regarding the selected cases to create a case report. Note that 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).

You may refer to the following links for additional information:

In M4 Assignment 2, you will create and submit a case report for each case related to competency and criminal responsibility right to treatment, right to refuse treatment, coercion, and participation in treatment and civil commitment of sex offenders. You are highly encouraged to work on these case reports on a weekly basis and not wait until Module 4 to complete. Write each case report in 1–2 pages, providing your analysis and interpretation of the case. In addition, analyze the roles and responsibilities of a forensic psychology professional in the circumstances presented in each case.

Click here to view a sample case report, which you will use as a template in your M4 Assignment 2 to write your case reports.

Note: Remember that you do not need to use the sample report in this assignment. You only need to write about the essence of the case. You will utilize the sample case format in Module 4.

Landmark Case Selection

In this assignment, you will research specific cases, describe the essence of each case, and critically analyze how each relates to the practice of forensic psychology.

Click here to view a list of landmark cases.

Tasks:

• Select one case for each of the following six legal areas:
• CST
• Criminal responsibility (MSO)
• Right to receive mental health treatment
• Right to refuse psychiatric treatment
• Coercion to mental health treatment
• Participation in treatment and civil commitment of sex offenders

Conduct individual research from professional literature to critically analyze the essence of the selected cases in forensic psychology. Note that 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). Present your choices, as well as your critical analysis of the essence of each case, in a 1- to 2-page Microsoft Word document.

All written assignments and responses should follow APA rules for attributing sources.

Submission Details:

• By Wednesday, August 27, 2014, save your documents as M1_A3_Lastname_Firstname.doc and submit it to the M1 Assignment 3 Dropbox.