Forensic Psychology

Forensic Psychology is the professional practice by psychologists within the areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology or another specialty recognized by the American Psychological Association.

By Lacey Maxwell

Exposing the TruthMental illness is a very real issue for many individuals. It is often linked with criminals

responsible for mass killings. In the article,” Can You Fake Mental Illness?”the author, Douglas Starr, explains how pleas of insanity by these individuals are not always valid. Since the creation of the insanity defense in the mid-19th century, experts have been debating if this defense has allowed criminals to get away with faking insanity. To ultimately avoid the death penalty, convicted individuals would fake

symptoms of mental illness in court and prison to fool onlookers. For example, David Berkowitz, also known as, the “Son of Sam”, shot six people in a three-year murder spree in New York during the late 1970s. He claimed that he was following the commands of a demon-possessed Labrador retriever, but later admitted it was a hoax. In his mind, appearing crazy would somehow lessen the severity of his actions. Since proving insanity can avert a death sentence, the temptation to appear mentally ill must be strong. So, forensic psychologists watch for signs if fraud with a sharp clinical eye. They do a thorough review of the suspect’s history and their crime scene report, have extremely long interviews with them, and conduct a series of standardized tests that essentially fake-out the faker.

The first step to detecting signs of fraud is doing a thorough review of the suspect’s history. Since mental illness doesn’t just happen overnight, it is important to know if the person has been hospitalized or treated for related symptoms. If a suspect has no prior history of an unstable mental state or necessary stays at any psychiatric wards, it may raise suspicions of untruthful pleas of insanity. Also, the investigators review the crime-scene report. If the suspect has concealed the weapon, washed off their fingerprints, or taken other steps to avoid the police, it is a sign of clear thinking. The most brilliant fraud was the mafia chieftain Vincent Gigante. He was given the nickname “Oddfather” by the New York press for his strange behavior. For years, he would walk around Greenwich Village in his pajamas, while talking to parking meters, slobbering and muttering to appear mentally incompetent to onlookers. When he was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering, he fooled several top psychologists and delayed the trial for a very long time. In 1997 even after he was sent to jail, he maintained the appearance of mental illness. This charade continued until 2003, when he plea-bargained his way out of more charges, that Vincent had admitted it was all an act. Reviewing the history of a suspect and their crime-scene report can be important for avoiding a situation like this and exposing the phony.

Next, psychologists have extremely long interviews with the suspect. The longer the interrogation the better, because after a few hours, some suspects grow weary of putting on the act. A Professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University, Phillip J. Resnick, says “he asks the suspect to talk at length about his history before saying a word about the crime, to lessen the chance of ”retrofitting” a pattern of alleged illness to the deed. “ He and his colleagues observe closely for signs of particular mental illness. Also, some convicted individuals just act how they believe an insane person would. “Moat malingerers don’t read the psychological literature” says Tail Walters, a Boston forensic psychologist, so they portray a theatrical version of how a crazy person would behave. For example, some suspects claim that they hear voices in their heads telling them to carry out specific tasks, and how they are powerless to disobey them. This is a commonly exaggerated symptom of schizophrenia. Unlike what we observe in films, most auditory hallucinations seem to originate outside the head, and rarely come from non-human beings or other sources. Only a small percentage of these hallucinations are commands to commit a violent act. Therefore, truly schizophrenic individuals find ways to ignore these voices or even tolerate them. Also, some fakers do the opposite of what they originally had said. They might appear confused to the psychiatrist, but then converse at ease with cell-mates, or claim to be paranoid while sitting comfortably. Some combine different symptoms such as hallucinations and obscene outbursts caused by Tourette’s syndrome. These are signs that psychologists watch for during these long interviews to help them decide if the mental illness claimed by the suspect is valid.

Lastly, there are standardized tests that trip up the phonies. A 10- minute test, called M-FAST (Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test), asks a series of 25 questions that include phony and real symptoms. It is almost impossible to pick the correct combinations if you are not mentally unstable or a highly trained forensic psychologist. Another series of questions, called SIRS (Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms) takes approximately an hour. There is even a test to discover if a patient who claims to be suffering from amnesia is a fraud. This is among the most common faked mental illnesses. Forensic psychologists give a memory test that is so simple that even a person with amnesia could complete it. They present a series of letters, numbers, and shapes for a few seconds and then ask the suspect to draw what they observed on a blank sheet of paper. The only way to fail this test is to do so on purpose. Jerry J. Sweet, director of neuropsychology for the North Shore University Health System in Evanston says, “I don’t want to be so specific that people can avoid our detection methods”. This means she thinks that explaining exactly how they expose the fakers with these tests will give them an upperhand on how to weasel their way out of it. “So in this case we try not to educate the public,” says Jerry J. Sweet. These tests play a key role in ultimately discovering who is being honest about their mental state. The results provided are valid and will expose the truth.

The Cost of Fraud

Faking mental illness has become a huge problem in many different areas of society. It has also caused issues within the court justice system and inmates who are currently being incarcerated. In the article “The secondary gains of malingering in jail/prison”(2009), the author describes exactly how faking insanity has impacted our society and why individuals feel compelled to do so. The word malingering, used numerous times throughout the article, is defined as the “intentional production of false or exaggerated physical or psychological complaints with the goal of receiving a reward”(The secondary gains of malingering in jail/prison, 2009). People participate in malingering for multiple reasons. For example, an incarcerated inmate may be trying to avoid legal proceedings, obtain a more preferred housing unit, receive certain medications, or have evidence of a psychiatric diagnosis to obtain Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits after release from jail.

An incarcerated inmate who is faking mental illness may be attempting to delay or avoid legal proceedings such as, trial or sentencing. They are most likely supporting an insanity defense to appear too incompetent to stand trial. “The most typical malingered mental illness symptoms are psychosis, dementia/amnesia, or a traumatic head injury “(The secondary gains of malingering in jail/prison, 2009). Someone who is usually attempting to avoid punishment or responsibility often fakes psychosis, or reports memory blackouts. People who are trying to get money from a lawsuit or insurance settlement generally fakes brain trauma. Individuals who are seeking stimulants or narcotics usually display symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, severe anxiety, insomnia, pain, or narcolepsy. Another motive for an incarcerated individual pretending to be insane, could be attempting to obtain a more preferred housing unit which has more privileges, or where it would be easier to escape, such as a hospital, infirmary, or psychiatric ward. “Additionally, most incarcerated malingerers crave medications”(The Secondary gains of malingering in jail/prison, 2009). Prescriptions like stimulants, narcotics, and sedatives could definitely make their time in jail easier to deal with. Also, meds could be sold to other inmates in exchange for something that ultimately benefits them. Lastly, some inmates want to have evidence of a psychiatric diagnosis to obtain (SSI) benefits after release from jail. These benefits provide cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. Some people may see this as an opportunity to get money easily, and take advantage of these benefits.

This article is very informative and many solid points are made throughout it. It provides information about how faking mental illness negatively affects our society. Also, it explains why an individual that is incarcerated or expected to go through trial would put on an act. They could be attempting to avoid sentencing or legal proceedings by appearing insane. Also, an individual that is incarcerated could be trying to receive a more preferred housing unit, where they have more privileges. Some inmates want to have evidence of a psychiatric diagnosis to get Supplemental Security Income benefits after release from prison. These benefits are designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people, who have little or no income. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article and I definitely think the author knew what they were talking about.

Faking Illness

People suffering from a mental illness deserve to get the help that they require. However, not all of the help being provided is going to the right people. Faking mental illness has become a major issue in convicted individuals. In 1981, a man named John Hinckley Jr., decided to attempt to assassinate president Ronald Reagan. As the president was leaving Hilton Hotel, he shot at Reagan six times, wounding a few people in the process. One of the bullets hit the president in the chest, but he survived. During trial, Hinckley’s defense team pled the insanity defense and succeeded. He was acquitted of all of his 13 charges of assault, murder, and weapon counts. This man ultimately got away with shooting the president, because he claimed he was insane while committing the crime. People like this do not deserve to walk free. A convicted individual could avoid any kind of punishment just by appearing insane to onlookers. However, this is not the only reason people fake mental illness. They could be attempting to obtain certain medications, receive benefits or avoid responsibilities. In this essay, I will be describing exactly how faking mental illness negatively affects our society and why it needs to end.

One article I discovered is called “Prescription Drug Addicts are Faking Symptoms to Get Drugs”. In a similar way to Schoenly, the author discusses how people fake mental illness to obtain drugs and other benefits. “A recent study by the Hennepin County Medical Center released results showing that one in four patients with (ADHD) fake or at least exaggerate their symptoms”. (Prescription Drug Addicts are Faking Symptoms to Get Drugs). The reason is they are attempting to obtain a prescription for popular drugs like Adderall. As prescription drug abuse is on the rise so are the claims in symptoms to obtain them. This increase in unnecessary prescriptions has caused a medication shortage in Minnesota where legitimate cases can’t receive the drugs they need. “Physicians need to discriminate more”, says psychiatrist Dr. Gary Christenson. At his health clinic on a university campus in Minnesota, Dr. Christenson estimates that a new patient comes in on a weekly basis claiming to have ADHD. A recent study showed that a quarter of students in Minnesota were diagnosed within a year of the study. Less than thirty percent of physicians across the country go the extra mile to detect dishonesty or exaggeration in patients claiming to have specific symptoms. “According to the National Institute of Mental Health, just less than 5% of the united states population actually suffers from ADHD” ((Prescription Drug Addicts are Faking Symptoms to Get Drugs). This article gives direct examples of how faking mental illness affects our society and how people obtain drugs by doing it. I found this article to be very informative.

Another article I found is called “Why People Fake Illness”. It was written by a man named Benjamin Radford. This article talks about how mental illness is not the only issue people pretend to have. In 2008, a woman named Dina Leone shared with her friends and family that she had been diagnosed with stomach cancer. The 37-year-old mother of two received more than an outpouring of support and get well cards, she also got money to help pay for her treatments and fulfill her dying wishes. Police investigated her claims and soon her story unraveled when the hospitals claimed to have no record of her. She eventually admitted she had pretended to be sick for over three years. Usually the main motivation for faking an illness is to gain sympathy. People enjoy being the center of attention, well-wishes, gifts, and concerned calls from old friends and others. Sometimes, the lies are spread for the simplest and basest of reasons; money. Some people really do have a disease, a mental illness known as a factitious disorder. Munchausen syndrome by proxy, involves a person who acts as if the child he or she is caring for has an illness. For example, for much of 2003, the parents of a 7-year-old girl named Hannah Milbrandt told their friends and family that their daughter had cancer. Bake sales and donations raised about $10,000 for the family between April and December. Teresa Milbrandt did her best to make her daughter appear sick. She shaved the girl’s head to mimic the side effects of chemotherapy, made her wear a protective mask a protective mask as if he immune system was weak, and even drugged her daughter with sleeping pills to make her groggy. Hannah wasn’t even in on the scheme. Teresa Milbrandt convinced her daughter that she was really going to die, and had her in counseling to cope with the fact that she would never see her teenage years. Nine months after claiming her daughter had cancer Teresa was exposed as being a fraud. These faked illnesses could have implications for people who really do have cancer or other sickness. This article is similar to the others I have talked about because it explains why people fake illness, and usually mental illness has something to do with it. This article really opened my eyes to how far people will go to fake illness of any kind.

Steve Jobs and Apple, Inc. have created numerous cultural images with their products

and marketing throughout the years. The most visually memorable of these images are the

dancing silhouettes of the 2003- 2008 iPod and iTunes advertising campaign. They were first

initiated with the iPod digital music player and eventually appeared globally in print, on TV, and

the web. This campaign proved to be one of the most effective of the early 21st century. The

silhouette ads were specifically notable for their evocative effect on culture, fashion, and

“hipness”.  They attracted millions of new customers and pointed the business in a

substantially new direction.  It was the simple but powerful imagery of the free-spirited

dancers in these ads that helped imprint “the Apple style” around the world.  The first ads were

displayed on billboards in Los Angeles, California. Soon after they ads started appearing in

newspapers, and music and sports magazines. The silhouette print ads used headlines such as

“Welcome To The Digital Music Revolution” and “10,000 Songs in Your Pocket”. The

campaign also included posters in public places such as, building broadsides, and “wrap

advertising” used on buses, trains and subway cars. Since October 2001, more than 300 million

iPods of different kinds have been sold worldwide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlHUz99l-eo

The silhouette portrayed in the advertisement is either a male or female with headphones

in and a portable music player. The iPod and headphones are always a bright white and stand out

against the darkness of the dancing silhouette. This contrast turned out to be a genius marketing

strategy, focusing attention on the product in a unique way, while also becoming an iconic part

of the image. The dancers are cast against brightly colored backgrounds of lime green, yellow,

fuchsia, bright blue, and pink. The individual in the commercial is dancing to the music they are

playing on their iPod, and the audience can hear it as well. These ads feature a wide variety of

different music genres and artists to appeal to as large a base as possible. The purpose of the ad

is to show how much joy an iPod can bring you and that anyone can enjoy it regardless of race,

gender, sexuality, or ethnicity. The dancing silhouettes remain anonymous throughout the entire

ad, portraying the message that anyone can use the iPod. Free-spiritedness and joy are

represented through the dance movements of the silhouettes. It displays the message that it is

your iPod and your music, you have the freedom to do what you wish with it. The dancing

silhouette ads are focused mainly on appealing to everyone. However, they are steered a little

more towards appealing to the younger generation, since they are more than likely, the ones who

will be purchasing their products. The feeling that the ad evokes is pure happiness and free-

spiritedness. I like the message that this ad offers because, I believe that equality and freedom are

very important in our society and this advertisement portrays it in a very unique way. It shows

that dance and body language can be just as powerful as words.

Editor’s NoteThe title of my magazine is Forensic Psychology. I imagine that my magazine would

appeal to people who are interested in psychology and learning about this particular field. There are multiple articles throughout it with solid information and logic. The main point I am trying to make through this magazine, is how our society is negatively affected when convicted individuals fake insanity. The articles include information about the motives behind an individual who is attempting to appear crazy in court and while incarcerated. Also, it explains why people who are not in these situations pretend to be insane. This magazine explains how to detect signs of fraud in an individual as well. It describes a number of methods that have proven to be very effective when attempting to expose the truth of whether an individual truly needs psychiatric help. I think this magazine is important because people need to realize how big of an issue this has really become. People who pretend to be insane could ultimately be robbing someone who truly needs psychiatric help. I think this magazine is important because people need to realize how big of an issue this has really become. People who pretend to be insane could ultimately be robbing someone who truly needs help of the treatment that they require. A murderer could essentially walk free just by claiming they were insane at the time they were committing the crime. I think it is important to raise awareness of this problem and hopefully this magazine will do just that.

The first article is called “Exposing the Truth”. It starts out by giving a real-life example of a serial killer who claimed to be insane to avoid the death penalty and punishment of any kind. Then, it describes which methods to use when attempting to find out if an individual is truly crazy. Doing a thorough review of the suspect’s history is the first step. If a suspect has no prior history of an unstable mental state, it may raise suspicions of untruthful pleas of insanity. Next, long interrogating interviews play a key role in exposing a fraud. The longer the interrogation and questioning, the more likely the suspect is to give up putting on the act. Lastly, there are multiple tests that psychologists use in dealing with situations like these. For example, the Miller Forensic Assessment test asks a series of 25 questions, and it is almost impossible to pick the correct combinations if you are not mentally unstable or a highly trained psychologist. All of these methods play a key role in detecting fraud in an individual.

The next article is called “The Cost of Fraud”. It explains why an incarcerated individual would pretend to be crazy. They could be supporting an insanity defense to appear too incompetent to stand trial, or avoid legal proceedings such as, trial or sentencing. Also, they could be attempting to obtain a better housing unit with more privileges, or where it is easier to escape. Many incarcerated individuals also crave medications. An inmate could be trying to get a prescription for stimulants, narcotics, or sedatives. Additionally, some convicted individuals want evidence of a psychiatric diagnosis to obtain SSI benefits after release from jail. These benefits provide cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. These are all the motives that an incarcerated individual would have for faking insanity.

The last article is called “Faking Illness”. It starts out by giving an example of a man who attempted to assassinate one of our former presidents and ultimately walked away as a free man. His team of lawyers pled the insanity defense during trial and they got away with it, all of his thirteen charges were completely dropped. A man like this does not deserve to walk free. Next, the article describes how prescription drug addicts pretend to be crazy to obtain drugs. It includes

multiple facts and statistics proving how bad of an issue this really has become. Then, the article talks about how insanity is not the only problem people pretend to have. It presents a story about a mother who ultimately convinced her daughter that she had cancer. She also convinced her friends, family, and peers that she had this illness, all because she wanted money and special treatment. This woman even shaved her daughter’s head and gave her sleeping pills so she would feel groggy, all as part of the act. This article is truly eye opening to how far people wil go to fake an illness to get what they want, it really is extreme.

Lacey Maxwell