Forensic Psychiatry Services

What Is Forensic Psychiatry?

The practice of forensic psychiatry is concerned with the connection of mental health and the law. A forensic psychiatrist may work with defendants or victims in criminal or civil cases. This can include evaluating the state of mind of someone who has committed a crime, helping to determine sanity, or consideration of competency to stand trial, and other competencies. They evaluate and diagnose mental disorders, provide violence risk assessments, and serve as expert witnesses during a trial.

The forensic psychiatrists at UH work closely with prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement and other members of the justice system to help support the judicial process.

Our Services

Our team provides high-quality forensic psychiatry evaluations to assist finders-of-fact deciding complicated legal issues. Some of the services we provide include evaluation for criminal responsibility, competency to stand trial, malingering, fitness for duty, and suicide and violence risk assessments.

Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship

A central goal of our service is to increase the expertise of future physicians in the field of forensic psychiatry. We provide teaching for trainees across disciplines. This includes the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship program, electives for psychiatry residents and medical students, and the Psychiatry and the Law course at Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

Research

Research is a vital component of the forensic psychiatry team’s mission. Some of our research interests include mental illness and violence, homicide, women and violence, and social justice issues.