Psychological Evaluations in Juvenile Justice

Criminal courts ordinarily handle adults accused of felony crimes. At times, criminal courts will manage cases involving juveniles but only when they have been remanded out of juvenile court. Criminal courts often rely on psychological evaluations to determine a number of different competencies of the accused. The potential applications of these evaluations within the criminal courts range from the typical competency to stand trial evaluation, to the less common competency for execution evaluation. Although, criminal court evaluations usually assess the defendant’s competency on important legal matters, they also play a role in determining mental state at the time of the offense, as well as appropriate sentencing procedures at the conclusion of the trial. In this assignment, you consider when and why you would use particular forensic psychological evaluations in criminal courts. You also explain the similarities and differences between them.

describe the three types of evaluations you selected and explain when and under what circumstances you would use each.
• Compare (similarities and differences) the criminal evaluations you selected.
• Explain what insights you had or conclusions you drew based on your comparison.
• Be specific.
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Juvenile Justice: Psychological Evaluations

Psychological evaluations, simply put are assessments and tests carried out to determine the psychological state and health of an individual. According to Franklin (2011), “Many juvenile offenders exhibit individual psychological problems, and others have been raised in problematic or dysfunctional families. Psychological evaluation of juvenile offenders is an essential part of the family court system, because the thrust of the juvenile justice system is to provide rehabilitation. A juvenile offender may need psychological treatment, educational assistance, or treatment for a substance abuse problem. Provision of these needed rehabilitation services will reduce the possibility of recidivism. ” Results of an evaluation are provided to court and to related agencies involved in the rehabilitation and care of these children in the pursuit of justice as well as welfare.
There are a lot of different psychological evaluations utilized depend on purpose. …