Transcript Forensic Psychological Evaluations for Asylum and

Forensic Psychological Evaluations for
Asylum and Immigration Proceedings
Considerations and Challenges in Assessing
the Psychological-Legal-Cultural Nexus
Tim F. Branaman, Ph.D., ABPP
Dallas Forensic Group, November 10, 2010
Nature of Case Referrals
– Asylum
– Immigration violations
Asylum
• Persecution
• Torture
Cancellation of Removal
• Basic requirements, which may include,
among other criteria,
– Extreme hardship, or in some cases
– Exceptional and extremely unusual hardship
• Fulfilling conditions of VAWA, plus extreme
hardship
Exemption from Language
Requirement
• Condition that impairs speaking, reading,
writing English
• Assessment of developmental history, general
functioning, and current level of cognitive
functioning, and academic achievement
Psychological-Legal Nexus
• Asylum cases
– Extent to which psychological evidence is
consistent with
• Reasonable fear associated with persecution
• Symptoms of acute stress or trauma disorder consistent
with reasonable fear of death, or
• Symptoms of PTSD or neuropsychological symptoms
consistent with psychological and physical torture
Evaluation Challenges
• Language
• Translation
• Cultural effects
2005
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Evaluation Challenges Cont’
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2005
Trauma effects
Objective assessment
Length of time since entering United States
Memory discrepancies
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The Evaluation
• Review of asylee’s affidavit
• Interview of asylee
– Prior functioning
– Traumatic events
– Current functioning
• Assessment of symptoms
• Collateral data
2005
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Assessing “Reliability”
• “Reliability” = Validity
• Clinical assessment of validity of self-report
– Consistency over time
– Minimization rather than exaggeration
– Reported symptoms vs. Observed behavior
– Extreme symptomology
2005
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Assessing “Reliability”
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Rare combinations
Unusual hallucinations
Unusual symptom course
Negative image
Suggestibility
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Report Preparation
• Format
• Your identity as an expert
• Nature of the referral and the referral
question
• The evaluation – what you did
• Your findings
• Your opinions - conclusions
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Psychological-Legal Nexus
• Application for Cancellation of removal
– What, if any, psychological-social-behavioral
condition is present that may rise to the level of
“exceptional and extremely unusual hardship?”
– What is the nature and extent of the hardship that
may be imposed?
“Exceptional &
Extremely Unusual Hardship”
• spouse, parent, or child would suffer
hardship that is substantially beyond
that which would ordinarily be
expected to result from the alien’s
deportation, but does not need to
show that such hardship would be
“unconscionable.”
Psychological-Legal Nexus
• Application for Cancellation of removal
– Medical hardships to spouse or child
– Psychological hardships to spouse or child
• Records of prior psychological treatment may be
important
– Coping deficits, impaired ability to function
independently (i.e., remaining spouse), conditions
that may be aggravated, serious financial
hardships
Application for
Cancellation of removal
• Even with documentation, great suffering
generally gets little consideration or weighting
in determination of disposition of an
application (Hake, 2004)
• A combination of elements is necessary to for
an application to be successful and
psychological or medical hardship is only a
portion of it
Assessment Challenges and Limitations
• Assessment instruments
• Language differences
• use of interpreters and availability of
interpreters
• Limited collateral data
Reports and Testimony
• Consistent with other forensic report
preparation
• Less formal than federal or state courts
• What is required varies from one region to
another
Testimony
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Immigration court
What to expect
Preparation
Amount of time
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Ethical Considerations
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Multicultural issues
Informed consent
Limitation of reliability of opinions
Recognition of potential personal bias
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