To conduct an evaluation for criminal insanity,
the psychologist must address whether the person
has a mental disorder or defect and what the per-
son’s mental status was at the time of the alleged
crime. In the process, the psychologist will assess
many factors, including the defendant’s history
and that of the defendant’s family, intellectual sta-
tus, neuropsychological factors, competency to
stand trial, reading skills, personality, and measures
of faking or malingering (Blau, 1998).forensic reports or assisting them in preparing to cross-
examine a forensic mental health expert.What are your particular areas of expertise or interest?
My research interests all fall under the law-psychology
umbrella, and the thread that runs throughout my
research interests is improving the quality of practice
by influencing policy. My current research interests
include (1) drug policy (i.e., developing and evaluating
judicially based treatments for drug-involved criminal
offenders); (2) interventions for criminal offenders (i.e.,
examining the clinical appropriateness and effective-
ness of interventions for offenders in the criminal jus-
tice system, and promoting diversion from the criminal
justice system for offenders with mental illness); and
(3) psychopathy (i.e., examining how psychopathy evi-
dence is used in forensic assessments and legal pro-
ceedings, studying psychopathy in under-studied
populations, and examining the relationship between
psychopathy and treatment outcome). These research
interests enable me to work in a variety of settings and
with a range of populations, including drug-involved
criminal offenders and individuals with mental health
disorders. An important aspect of my research agenda
is trying to influence practice and policy based on the
results of my research, so I try to disseminate my
research findings to a wide variety of audiences and in
a variety of ways (e.g., publications, presentations,
continuing education workshops, talks to planning/
steering committees).What are some future trends you see in forensic
psychology?
On the clinical side, the development of specialized
forensically relevant instruments has had an extremely
positive impact on certain areas of forensic practice.
For example, although mental health professionals
have historically struggled to predict whether a crimi-
nal offender or psychiatric patient was likely to be
violent in the future, the development of new risk
assessment instruments (based on many years of
impressive research) has greatly improved our ability topredict future violence. There are now conceptually
sound and empirically validated instruments that can
help forensic practitioners address a variety of legal
issues, and this will no doubt greatly improve forensic
practice. Over the next few years, I anticipate the
development of even more instruments that will assist
forensic practitioners in conducting a wide range of
forensic mental health assessments.
On the research side, researchers continue to
examine core issues that have the potential to assist
courts to make better informed decisions. For example,
research on the reliability of eyewitness testimony, jury
decision-making, and false confessions, to name just a
few areas, can be used to help legal decision-makers
(judges and juries) reach decisions that are based on
sound scientific evidence. Having a researcher educate
the court in a particular area is an obvious way to
influence the legal process, and I expect that attorneys
and courts will increasingly rely on forensic experts in
the coming years.David DeMatteoDavid DeMatteoFORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY 547