Assignment 2: LASA: Evaluation of a Forensic Psychological Report

This course has provided you with a foundational knowledge of forensic psychological assessment. Successful integration of your skills is a significant aspect of this course. Throughout this course, you have learned about the variety of forensic psychological assessments.

In this assignment, read and apply what you have learned in this course to analyze a report of a recently paroled offender.

Scenario:

You are working as a forensic mental health professional in a parole outpatient clinic, which has received a forensic psychological and risk assessment report on a paroled offender. You have been asked evaluate the report and present it to the Board of Parole.

Click here to download the forensic psychology and risk assessment report.

Tasks:

Evaluate the forensic psychology and risk assessment report and create an 8- to 10-page essay in a Microsoft Word document addressing the following:

• Identify and describe the role and purpose of the report. Comment on whether the evaluation was or was not necessary. State the reasons for your opinion.
• Apply considerations of any information or sections that you found missing in the report as well as information that you found to be not relevant, i.e., elements that should have been omitted. In other words, what could have been added to or excluded from the report?
• Discuss the ways in which cultural sensitivity and aspects of diversity were addressed in the report, including any ways in which the report could be made more culturally sensitive and include greater considerations of elements of diversity.
• Identify and describe at least two additional psychological assessments or measures that you would have administered to obtain additional relevant information for the report. Feel free to list more than two as appropriate. Be sure to also consider cultural implications of the tests which you select.
• Explain how you would use the recommendations in the report to assist in the development of a treatment plan.
• Discuss in what capacity the report may be used in alternative venues. For example, can this report be utilized by other professionals in the future? If so, in what capacity?
• Discuss the overall quality and readability of this report, including a scholarly critique of the writing.

As you evaluate the report be sure to avoid using the word “I” in formal writing. Remember, the reader of your assignment will know it is your voice since you are the author of your paper. Also, consider the difference between the following two statements, “I think the report needed to have included . . .” and “The report needed to have included . . .” The first statement has some redundancy by the writer’s use of the word “I,” whereas the second statement displays greater confidence.

Your essay should rely upon at least seven scholarly resources from the professional literature that are cited in APA format. The 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 or .gov).

Submission Details:

The LASA is worth 300 points and will be graded according to the following rubric: