FORENSIC
PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPERTISE
Professor Griffin has long-standing experience and capability in assisting both defendants and the government in the following areas:
1
Psychological Assessment in Capital Cases
The assessment of an individual’s mental state and psychological functioning is important in the context of capital punishment cases. Forensic psychological assessments are used to determine whether any psychological factors that the accused may have could impact their culpability or ability to receive a fair trial.
The prevalence of homicide in the Eastern Caribbean region and the prevailing attitudes towards the death penalty make a thorough, expert psychological assessment of the accused an essential and urgent element of Caribbean justice. The West Indian Psychological Company (WIPC) provides objective psychological testing for mitigating factors in an integrated psycho-social assessment, particularly for those accused of murder.
2
Insanity Defense
Insanity defenses are complex and evolving; as such, they require both a knowledge of the varying territorial defense statues and an understanding of the distinctive ways in which “insanity” is manifested in the Eastern Caribbean. An understanding of the discourse of local insanity syndromes is essential to the evolution of a more indigenous form of the insanity defense. The WIPC conducts insanity defense assessments in such a way as to contribute to the development of a defense that moves beyond British notions of “madness” and “jurisprudence.”
3
Competency to Stand Trial
Fitness assessments involve the evaluation of a defendant’s ability to participate in their trial proceedings and they require a comprehensive assessment of the individual's cognitive and emotional functioning, as well as their ability to communicate with their attorney and understand the legal proceedings. In the experience of WIPC experts, prompt and routine assessments of an individual’s ability to contribute to their own defense reduce trial
backlogs and the amount of time that individuals spend in jail before being brought to trial. The WIPC has the technology to also conduct virtual competency evaluations promptly, confidentially, and skillfully.
4
Sentencing Guidelines and Mitigation
Sentencing guidelines are a set of rules and principles used by judges to determine appropriate sentences for convicted persons. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court issued a new set of Sentencing Guidelines effective 1st September, 2020. These guidelines provide a general framework for judges to consider various mitigating factors that may increase or reduce the severity of a sentence. A forensic psychosocial assessment establishes precisely what psychological factors can constitute appropriate mitigating factors. The WIPC uniquely includes a consideration of culture-bound sensibilities toward elements such as remorse, respect, and identity as primary possible mitigating factors that are on the same level as the defendant's age, mental state, or personal history.
5
Fitness Assessments
Fitness evaluations require a comprehensive assessment of the individual's cognitive and emotional functioning, as well as their ability to communicate with their attorney and understand the legal proceedings.
6
Intelligence Testing
Intelligence testing typically involves the administration of standardized tests that are designed to evaluate an individual's cognitive abilities in areas such as verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory, and processing speed. This testing is used in criminal cases to evaluate if and to what degree an individual has the capacity to understand the charges against them and/or to assist in their own defense. Significantly sub-average intelligence is a factor in the determination of whether or not the accused is properly subject to death penalty sentencing.
It is widely known among psychologists that intelligence testing is an area fraught with problems of bias, as the development of regional normative data is important and pending. In the interim, the WIPC utilizes “culture fair” tests of intelligence, computational demographic information, and performance on standardized academic work (such as O-and A-level results) to produce a more valid and reliable assessment of intellectual capacity.
7
Malingering
Malingering refers to the deliberate feigning or exaggeration of symptoms for some secondary gain, such as avoiding criminal responsibility, obtaining financial compensation, or obtaining medications. Clinical forensic psychologists use a variety of techniques to assess malingering, including clinical interviews, behavioral observations, and standardized assessment instruments. The forensic clinical psychologist may also review medical and/or other records, conduct psychological testing, and gather information from collateral sources, such as family members or other individuals involved in the case. Dr. Griffin has particular expertise in the assessment of malingering, having testified in hundreds of cases in US Federal administrative courts regarding the veracity of appellants' reported mental illness claims. He is also the primary developer of the Rey II, a widely used measure of gross malingering.
8
The Rights of Imprisoned Rastafarians
The WIPC has particular expertise in the area of Rastafari.
NOTABLE PSYCHOLOGICAL PUBLICATIONS
Griffin, G.A.E. and Tim Lewis. “Virtual Attacks: Discourse Analysis and
Proxy Testing in the Assessment of A Potentially Dangerous Student.”
Conference Presentation Poster. American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting 2015.
Toronto, Canada.
Because violent school attacks remains statistically infrequent, there is no effective profile for identifying a potentially violent student. However, virtual space and social media have facilitated the abundant expression of virtual violence, which both approximates and exceeds violence in the real world. The abundance of virtual violence, in the form of posts, tweets, pics etc., warrants the development of new methodologies for assessing student dangerousness. This project utilized Discourse Analysis to examine the 111 emails sent by one college student to staff of a small liberal arts college. An axial deductive analysis of Content Themes (Identity, Stance, and Speech Acts) identified modes of expression utilized in more violent posts, tweets and emails sent by the same student using false names. His email correspondence formed the data base for proxy psychological testing, which further converged with our Discursive Analysis in identifying the student as pathologic and dangerous.
Griffin, G., D. Glassmire, A. Henderson, C. Mc.Cann, (1997)
The Rey II: Redesigning the Rey Memory Test..
Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53, 757-766.
This study has redesigned the Rey 15-item Visual Memory Test (1964) by introducing more complex figures and by increasing internal logic and pattern redundancy. Standardized administrative procedures and rules for a simple qualitative scoring system were established. Performance on the original Rey continued to be significantly contaminated by ability components and illness while performance on the Rey II qualitative scoring system was not significantly related to intelligence, age, mental status or memory. The Rey II demonstrated improved face validity. Linear Discriminant Function Analysis indicated that the qualitative scoring system had a higher classification accuracy than the quantitative system on both instruments; the Rey II qualitative scoring system accurately detected 31% more college malingerers than the Rey quantitative and 21% more clinical malingerers than the Rey II quantitative. A malingering cut-off of two qualitative errors gave the Rey II a 79% higher sensitivity in the college malingerers and 29% higher specificity in the clinical population than the standard quantitative Rey cut-off of nine items.
Griffin, G., Normington, J. amp; Glassmire, D. (1996). Qualitative Dimensions in
Scoring the Rey Visual Memory Test of Malingering. Psychological Assessment, 8, 383-387.
The ingenuity and simplicity of the Rey (A. Rey, 1964) 15-item Visual Memory Test have made it a promising screening device for examining the validity of psychological complaints. Empirical investigations have generally confirmed its ability to identify malingering. However, more recent studies found that the Reys malingering detection ability was adversely affected by a sensitivity to the ability components of age and IQ, as well as genuine memory disorders. Procedures and rules for a qualitative scoring system were developed. Unlike the original scoring system, which was based on the number of correct items recalled, the qualitative scoring system is based on the types of errors made. The qualitative scoring system was minimally affected by ability components and was able to distinguish between psychiatrically disabled and normal non-malingerers, and between non-malingerers and possible malingerers in a natural group design.
Griffin, G., Normington, J., May, R. amp; Glassmire, D. (1996). Assessing
Dissimulation Among Social Security Disability Income Claimants.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 1425-1430.
Social Security disability income programs have been beset by increasingly politicized concerns regarding widespread fraud among claimants. This study was an initial investigation of malingering among claimants in Los Angeles seeking disability income on psychological grounds. After a review of 100 disability income applications, a population-appropriate instrument was developed from established psychometric indices of malingering. The Composite Disability Malingering Index was completed by 167 disability claimants (possible malingerers), a sex, age, and IQ cognate group of 63 psychologically disabled individuals without incentive to malinger (disabled non-malingerers), and 45 disability examiners with instructions to malinger (instructed malingerers). The mean score of instructed malingerers and the score at the 95th percentile of the disabled nonmalingerers converged, indicating 8 as the critical score. This cutting score found 32 (19%) of disability claimants to be malingering. Self- reported substance abuse history was the only participant variable that significantly predicted higher malingering scores.