Forensic Psychology

Forensic Psychiatry is the well-established specialty where psychiatrists providing expert testimony for court cases. These court cases that Forensic Psychiatrists provide expert testimony on can be for Civil Litigation or Criminal proceedings. Not only Psychiatrists engage in Forensic work. There are specialists in all fiends that help with Expert Testimony. For instance, there are Forensic Architects who analyze why a building collapsed, and there are Forensic Accountants to examine the finances of suspected criminals or those involved in litigation. In the case of Forensic Social Work, we do the same kind of work as Forensic Psychiatry, except we don’t have a MD degree and are not licensed Doctors. We as Forensic Social Workers normally have a few areas of expertise, just like Forensic Psychiatrists do. In my case, I specialize in sex abuse cases, survivors of traumatic incidents, and cases where business or governmental department policies have resulted in harm to either employees or members of the public. What Forensic Social Workers do that is different than Forensic Psychiatry is that we look at larger systems that could be affecting the individuals in question. For instance, where a Forensic Psychiatrist examines only the functioning of an individual, with some analysis as to how external factors affect the individual, Forensic Social Workers dig deeper into the evidence related to how a person or persons are affected by larger systems, and even how laws affect how companies or departments operate. 

Social Workers who have the higher-level credential known as the Diplomate of Clinical Social Work (DCSW), as administered by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), have a Duty to effect change on society at the higher levels (lawmaking, political processes, and administration of Administrative Rules, Policy and Procedure statements, and other governing language). DCSW level social workers often engage in Forensic Work, as do Forensic Psychiatrists, with a specific focus on analysis on how to improve social and business functioning to reduce such things as Systemic Racism, reduce risk of Sex Offenses committed by business employees, and evaluating corporate policy to take pro-active steps to reduce risk of litigation. Unlike Forensic Psychiatry, Forensic Social Workers can work with organizations and departments that must take corrective action that has resulted from a lawsuit. We take the results of the lawsuit and transform that into new policies, such that similar violations are less likely. 

To sum up, Forensic Social Workers and Forensic Psychiatry are similar in many ways, but have significant differences. Social Workers fight for Social Justice, Human Rights, Civil Rights, and fight against Systemic Racism, Systemic Sexism, Unfair treatment of minorities, and strengthening our social safety net. 

Let us know if you need services in the following areas: 

  1. Expert Testimony related to ongoing legal proceedings involving questions related to mental health status;

  2. Creating a Proactive educational program to reduce risk of lawsuits related to sexual misconduct in the workplace;

  3. Responding to a lawsuit, either as a Plaintiff or as a Respondent, in sex abuse in the workplace cases;

  4. Expert Testimony related to specific criminal or Civil cases involving alleged sexual misconduct

  5. Forensic preparation to assist a Plaintiff in the case of discrimination cases 

We operate very much as attorneys do. We normally work with an attorney as our client, and the attorney assists their client by utilizing our services. We accept a retainer that is valued at the estimated amount of time that will be needed to dedicate to the case, based on a base cost of $250/hr for client interviews/review of records/report preparation, and $300/hr for Expert Testimony when called to court and sworn in on the stand. 

Matthew Brittain