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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 18, 2026

An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime

An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime

Published on: May 3, 2016

Do forensic practitioners distinguish between testifying and consulting experts? A pilot study.

Thomas Gordon Gutheil¹, Michael Lamport Commons, Eric Y Drogin

¹Program in Psychiatry and the Law, Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, United States. gutheiltg@cs.com

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry

|October 9, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Forensic mental health professionals struggle to distinguish between consulting and testifying expert roles. This pilot study reveals inconsistent understanding of appropriate activities for each forensic duty.

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Area of Science:

Forensic Psychology
Legal Psychology
Mental Health Law

Background:

The legal profession distinguishes between consulting and testifying expert roles.
Forensic practice literature increasingly addresses the nuances of these roles.
Understanding the boundaries of these roles is crucial for ethical and effective forensic practice.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate forensic mental health professionals' understanding of the differences between consulting and testifying expert roles.
To assess how practitioners categorize attorney statements based on role appropriateness.

Main Methods:

Forty-four forensic mental health professionals participated in the study.
Participants reviewed and rated attorney statements for appropriateness to either a consulting or testifying expert role.
Data were collected on perceived distinctions between the two roles.

Main Results:

The study found that forensic practitioners did not consistently differentiate between consulting and testifying duties.
There was a lack of consensus regarding which activities are appropriate for each role.
The hypothesis that participants would clearly distinguish roles was not supported.

Conclusions:

Forensic mental health practitioners lack a clear, consistent understanding of the boundaries between consulting and testifying expert roles.
Further education and clarification are needed to ensure practitioners can appropriately navigate these distinct professional functions.
This ambiguity may have implications for forensic case management and expert testimony.