Transcript Chapter_13 - Blackwell Publishing

Personal Injury and
Discrimination in
Civil Law
Chapter 13
Legal Basis for Personal Injury
Cases: Torts and Civil Law
Torts are a civil wrong that one person commits
against another and results in either physical or
psychological damage
 Elements of a tort:





Duty or obligation
Violation of that duty
Damages resulted from the violation of the duty
Violation was the proximate cause of the damages
Damages

Compensatory Damages


Compensating for the damages
suffered by the plaintiff
Punitive Damages

Punishing the defendant for his
behavior
General Forensic Practice in
Personal Injury Cases
Establish a baseline level of psychological
functioning
 Determine the nature and severity of distress
 Determine the extent and severity of any
impairment in functioning
 Determine the psychological cause of the
impairments
 Determine the psychological interventions that
may reduce the psychological injury

Malingering in Personal Injury
Cases
May be a heightened risk for malingering when
there are financial incentives
 Lees-Haley (1997) found that 20-30% of plaintiffs
exhibited possible malingering
 Many attorneys coach witnesses
 Measures in personal injury evaluations used to
asses malingering




MMPI
MMPI-2
SIRS
Typical Injuries Involved in
Personal Injury Claims
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD)
 Neuropsychological damage
 Chronic Pain

PTSD
Largest psychological disorder for plaintiffs
(DSM)
 May have greatest impact on the court system
 Requires specific triggering event
 Suggests causal relationship, providing an
avenue for proximate cause
 Must present symptoms for at least a month to
be diagnosed



Four groups of criterion (A, B, C, & D)
New research suggests multiple causes for
PTSD
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Severity generally determined by



Length of time unconscious
Extensiveness of associated amnesia
Penetrating damage to skull
Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)
 Difficulty evaluating TBI



Intelligence scales
Memory scales


WMS-R
TOMM
Approaches to
Neuropsychological Assessment
 Fixed
battery approach
 Examiner
administers a standardized set
of psychological tests in an identical
manner
 Flexible
process approach
 Examiner
uses more discretion by only
selecting tasks and administering tests
related to the area of possible
impairment
Chronic Pain
 Psychological
experience of pain
May contribute to pain experience
 May be a result of the pain

 Assess
for relevant cognitive factors
Beck Depression Inventory
 Symptom Checklist-90-Revised

 Assess

motivation
Influence of secondary gains
Psychological Independent
Medical Evaluation




Requested by insurance companies in ongoing
disability claims
Similar to a personal injury evaluation, but do not
require any opinion about proximate cause
Assess the ongoing symptoms and treatment
effectiveness in relation to the person’s ability to
function in his or her place of employment
Nature of disabilities
 Factual disability
 Social disability
 Legal disability
Independent Medical Evaluation
Steps
 Conduct
a thorough investigation
 Identify any deficits impairing the
person’s ability to perform their job
 Base opinion on objective data
 Especially consider malingering or
exaggeration
Workers’ Compensation

Worker Compensation laws


Both parties (employees and employers)
relinquish certain legal rights
Intended to make up for lost earnings and
any other expenses caused by the workrelated injury
Sexual Harassment and
Employment Discrimination


Civil Rights Act of 1964 identified gender, race religion,
and national origin as protected classes for employment
discrimination
Discrimination results from



Sexual Harassment



Discriminatory effects
Discriminatory treatment
Quid pro quo
Hostile work
Forensic psychologist must determine:



Whether harassment or discrimination occurred
Why it occurred
Effects on the defendant