Forensic Mental Health: A Source Guide for Professionals - Paperback

by Erv Weinkauf (Author), Jerrod M. Brown (Author)

Forensic Mental Health: A Source Guide for Professionals is an innovative, yet practical new textbook that addresses the nexus of mental health and legal systems. Specifically, forensic mental health can be defined as the utilization of psychological strategies and techniques (e.g., diagnosis and treatment) to assist criminal justice-involved clients with mental health issues. These clients benefit from mental health care at all points in the criminal justice system, including prior to prosecution, during trial, and after adjudication. In these settings, mental health care can encompass everything from assessment and treatment services to casework management and collaboration with stakeholders. Such services are provided by a diverse group of professionals from different vocational and academic backgrounds (e.g., psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, counselors, and others). The importance of forensic mental health services is highlighted by the fact that criminal justice-involved clients with mental health issues are disproportionately likely, relative to the general population, to be re-arrested, re-incarcerated, and victimized by others. Necessitated by the rapid development of the field, this practitioner-oriented textbook adopts a multidisciplinary perspective on several timely, prominent, and often overlooked issues in the field of forensic mental health. This textbook features 20 standalone chapters written by a diverse collection of authors drawn from a wide variety of disciplines. Topics covered include but are not limited to the role of mental illness in criminal behavior, special populations and neurobehavioral disorders, memory-related disturbances, competency to stand trial, and re-entry into the community. Although extensively referenced, each chapter is written in an engaging and easy-to-follow manner that is appropriate for undergraduate students, graduate students, and established professionals alike. As such, Forensic Mental Health: A Source Guide for Professionals serves as an incomparable tool for those learning about how to assist current or future clients. The value of Forensic Mental Health: A Source Guide for Professionals is based in its ability to serve a wide variety of roles for different people. First, the textbook can serve as a great introduction to forensic mental health for students considering a career in this field. This could include students from criminal justice, psychology, and human service programs. Second, the textbook has the potential to provide additional professional seasoning or training for professionals already working in the field, but who may be unfamiliar with some topics such as legal concepts (e.g., competency to stand trial). Third, the textbook can simply be an essential resource for experienced legal professionals, clinicians, or others who might need a refresher on a given topic. Fourth, this textbook could be valuable to professionals and organizations that are collaborating with forensic mental health professionals in an effort to serve criminal justice-involved clients. In light of this versatility, Forensic Mental Health: A Source Guide for Professionals is a valuable addition to any library.

Author Biography

Jerrod Brown, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor and Program Director for the Master of Arts degree in Human Services with an emphasis in Forensic Behavioral Health for Concordia University, St. Paul, Minnesota. Jerrod has been employed with Pathways Counseling Center in St. Paul, Minnesota for the past fifteen years. Pathways provides programs and services benefiting individuals impacted by mental illness and addictions. Jerrod is the founder and CEO of the American Institute for the Advancement of Forensic Studies (AIAFS), and the Editor-in-Chief of Forensic Scholars Today (FST) and the Journal of Special Populations (JSP). Jerrod completed four master's degree programs and holds graduate certificates in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Other Health Disabilities (OHD), and Traumatic-Brain Injuries (TBI).

Erv Weinkauf, MA, is a retired Criminal Justice Department Chair (online) at Concordia University, Saint Paul, Minnesota. He directed and taught in the university's BA Criminal Justice program, MA Criminal Justice Leadership program, and MA program in Forensic Mental Health. The Forensic Mental Health program was developed by Jerrod Brown and Janina Cich from the American Institute for the Advancement of Forensic Studies (AIAFS) and Erv. He has co-authored and edited articles covering a variety of mental health topics such as autism, confabulation, family violence, fetal alcohol syndrome, malingering, offender reentry, sex offenders, and youth fire setting. Prior to Concordia University, Erv served as a police officer and deputy sheriff for thirty-seven years in Brown County, Minnesota. He retired in 2009. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. Erv was an adjunct instructor at several colleges and universities for twenty years and guest instructor for the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Chief Law Enforcement Officer (CLEO) and Leadership Academies. He was a member of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Advisory Board and South Central Technical College Advisory Board. Erv held a variety of positions: Pro Kinship for Kids Mentor, Guardian ad Litem, Children's Justice Initiative Panel, and the development of Teen and Adult Drug Courts in Brown County, Minnesota. Erv was selected as Police Officer of the Year by the American Legion, State of Minnesota, and Veterans of Foreign Wars, State of Minnesota, was recipient of the Minnesota Public Safety Award of Honor, and Association of Training Officers of Minnesota (ATOM) Hall of Fame Award.