Discuss the ways in which cultural  sensitivity and aspects of diversity were addressed in the report,  including any ways in which the report could be made more culturally  sensitive and include greater considerations of elements of diversity.

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Evaluation of a Forensic Psychological Report

This course has provided you with a foundational  knowledge of forensic psychological assessment. Successful integration  of your skills is a significant aspect of this course. Throughout this  course, you have learned about the variety of forensic psychological  assessments.

In this assignment, apply what you have learned in this course to analyze a report of a recently paroled offender.

Scenario:

You are working as a forensic mental health professional  in a parole outpatient clinic, which has received a forensic  psychological and risk assessment report on a paroled offender. You have  been asked evaluate the report and present it to the Board of Parole.

Click here to download the forensic psychology and risk assessment report.

Tasks:

Evaluate the forensic psychology and risk assessment  report and create an 8 page essay in a Microsoft Word document  addressing the following:

  • Identify and describe the role and purpose of the report. Comment on  whether the evaluation was or was not necessary. State the reasons for  your opinion.
  • Apply considerations of any information or  sections that you found missing in the report as well as information  that you found to be not relevant, i.e., elements that should have been  omitted. In other words, what could have been added to or excluded from  the report?
  • Discuss the ways in which cultural  sensitivity and aspects of diversity were addressed in the report,  including any ways in which the report could be made more culturally  sensitive and include greater considerations of elements of diversity.
  • Identify and describe at least two  additional psychological assessments or measures that you would have  administered to obtain additional relevant information for the report.  Feel free to list more than two as appropriate. Be sure to also consider  cultural implications of the tests which you select.
  • Explain how you would use the recommendations in the report to assist in the development of a treatment plan.
  • Discuss in what capacity the report may be  used in alternative venues. For example, can this report be utilized by  other professionals in the future? If so, in what capacity?
  • Discuss the overall quality and readability of this report, including a scholarly critique of the writing.

As you evaluate the report be sure to avoid using the  word “I” in formal writing. Remember, the reader of your assignment will  know it is your voice since you are the author of your paper. Also,  consider the difference between the following two statements, “I think  the report needed to have included . . .” and “The report needed to have  included . . .” The first statement has some redundancy by the writer’s  use of the word “I,” whereas the second statement displays greater  confidence.

Your essay should rely upon at least seven scholarly  resources from the professional literature that are cited in APA format.  The literature may include the Argosy University online library  resources; relevant textbooks; peer-reviewed journal articles; and  websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or  institutions (.edu or .gov).

Discuss whether each stakeholder’s needs, desires, and goals for selection should be equally weighted.  Explain why or why not giving specific examples to support your response.

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Discussion

By the due date assigned, respond to the assigned Discussion Question. Submit your responses to the Discussion Area. Start reviewing and responding to your classmates as early in the module as possible.

Each stakeholder in the selection process – line managers, coworkers, and applicants – has distinctly different needs, desires, and goals for selection.  Discuss whether each stakeholder’s needs, desires, and goals for selection should be equally weighted.  Explain why or why not giving specific examples to support your response. Refer to Chapter 3 for information on the selection process.

Selecting the new employees and classifying them as suitable or unsuitable for the job are accomplished by a variety of techniques, including application blanks, interviews, letters of recommendation, assessment centers, and psychological tests. Hiring decisions typically are based not on a single technique but on a combination of methods. In addition, testing for drug use is now widespread for many types of jobs (see chapter 12). Some jobs also have physical requirements and may require tests of strength and endurance.

The next step in the selection process is to test the selection procedures to determine if they succeeded in identifying the best workers for the jobs. In our example, after the initial 200 workers have been hired, the human resources department must track their progress to see how they perform on the job. This is the major test of the worth of a selection program.

Every new selection program must be investigated to determine its predictive accuracy or validity. This is done by evaluating the performance of the employees selected by the new procedures. For example, after the new workers are on the job for 6 months, their supervisors can be asked to rate their job performance. By comparing these ratings with performance on the selection techniques, we can determine how the two measures correlate. We want to know whether the selection techniques were able to predict which of the applicants turned out to be the better workers.

Suppose we learn that the employees who received high ratings from their supervisors had performed an average of 10 points above the cutoff score on a test of manual dexterity and had earned a high school diploma. Employees who received low ratings from their supervisors performed within 1 or 2 points of the cutoff score on the manual dexterity test and had not completed high school. These findings tell us that the two factors (manual dexterity and a high school diploma) were able to distinguish between potentially good and potentially poor workers. In the future, then, the human resources department can use these criteria with confidence to select the best people for these jobs.

Keep in mind that to evaluate employee selection procedures we must have some measure of job performance with which to compare performance on the selection techniques. Some ways to appraise and measure work performance are discussed in chapter 5.

Compare (similarities and differences) the two studies in terms of the designs, the methods of data collection and analysis, the nature of the interpretation, and conclusions drawn.

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Research studies in forensic psychology that utilize quantitative research designs are more common than those using the qualitative approach. As previously pointed out, qualitative designs have only recently been accepted in forensic psychology research. However, many forensic psychologists and forensic psychology professionals are realizing that much can be learned in many areas of study by using qualitative research designs instead of quantitative. Furthermore, the differences between quantitative and qualitative designs are not as distinct as you might imagine.

To prepare for this assignment:

  • Review the article, “From Single Case to Database: A New Method for Enhancing Psychotherapy Practice.” Pay particular attention to how both quantitative and qualitative research designs are used to evaluate individual case studies.
  • Using the Walden Library, choose and review a research study in the area of forensic psychology that uses a quantitative design and another that uses a qualitativedesign. If possible, try to find articles that focus on similar or related topics or research questions in forensic psychology.
  • Consider the similarities and differences between the two studies in terms of the designs of the studies, the data collection and analysis methods, and the nature of the interpretation of results and conclusions drawn.

The assignment (2–3 pages):

  • Briefly describe the quantitative study you selected.
  • Briefly describe the qualitative study you selected.
  • Compare (similarities and differences) the two studies in terms of the designs, the methods of data collection and analysis, the nature of the interpretation, and conclusions drawn.
  • Explain an insight you had or conclusion you now might draw as a result of/based on your comparison.

Support your Application Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are asked to provide a reference list only for those resources not included in the Learning Resources for this course.

Summarize at least two previous research studies on persuasion.

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LASA 1 Principles of Persuasion

An environmental organization would like to film a pro-recycling public service announcement and have brought you on as a consultant to help them better understand the principles of persuasion and how they should be applied in this PSA. As part of your presentation to the organization you will need to educate them on the principles of persuasion (using what has been learned through previous research) that will need to be applied to their PSA. asfaf

By the due date assigned, you should create a PowerPoint presentation.

In the first 4 to 6 slides of your presentation you will need to:

  • Summarize at least two previous research studies on persuasion.
  • How were the principles of persuasion studied?
  • Was the research valid? Why or why not?
  • What was learned through these studies that can be applied to the creation of the above PSA?

In your next 6 to 10 slides you will incorporate all you have learned about the art of persuasion to create your own PSA PowerPoint presentation to present to this organization that they will use to guide the filming of their video.

In this presentation you will need to:

  • Present a creative argument that will persuade the viewers of the need to recycle, which the video will be based on.
  • Use at least two primary principles of persuasion within this presentation.
  • In the final slide outline which two or more principles were used and why they were a good fit for this PSA.

Your total presentation should be a minimum of 10 to 16 slides (not including your title and reference slides). For your project you will need to be creative in the use of your graphics and fonts in addition to discussing and applying the principles of persuasion.

For this assignment, please use your text book along with additional resources from the Argosy Library.

Suggested additional resources:

  • Wood, W. (2000). Attitude change: Persuasion and social influence. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 539-570.
  • Cialdini, R.B. & Goldstein, N.J. (2004). Social influence: Compliance and conformity. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 591-621.
  • Schwarz, N. (1998). Warmer and more social: Recent developments in cognitive social psychology. Annual Review of Sociology, 24, 239-264.
  • Cialdini, R.B. (2003). Crafting normative messages to protect the environment. Current Directions in Psychological Science. 105-109.