Views By Two Series
THE INSANITY DEFENSE: WHAT, HOW, AND WHY?
featuring
Dr. Park Dietz & Dr. Nicholas Scurich
Please join us for the second event in our new Views By Two series which pairs a Center researcher with a prestigious practitioner to discuss hot topics in the field of psychology and law. By providing both a researcher and practitioner viewpoint, we hope to start a dialogue that will bridge the gap between scientific research and policy.
This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP here by February 10th. EVENT HAS REACHED FULL CAPACITY – NO LONGER ACCEPTING RSVPS.
Attendees can earn 1 MCLE credit for this event.
Date:
Thursday, February 12th, 2015
Time:
5:30-7:00pm
Location:
University of California, Irvine Campus
Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway building, room 1517 (#214 on campus map)
For an interactive map of the parking structure and venue, click here.
*Parking is available in the Social Sciences Parking Structure – please note that this lot is not attended after 5pm. Instead, please use the electronic permit kiosk that is available on the ground floor. If you prefer, an attendant is available at the Student Center Parking Lot.
Abstract:
The defense of insanity has a colorful history in Anglo-American jurisprudence, having been raised in many of the more notorious and bizarre crimes since 1843, when Daniel M’Naghten, under the delusional belief that he was being persecuted by the Torries, shot and killed the Prime Minister’s private secretary in London. How has the law evolved since the day of M’Naugten? How do courts go about determining whether a defendant was sane or insane? What is the process through which these determinations are made? How often is the defense used, and how often does it succeed? Dr. Dietz will provide an insider’s view of the process, from arrest through verdict, illustrated with examples from his own case files, and Dr. Scurich will synopsize the evolution of the legal tests of insanity and share the fruits of empirical research on the defense over the past 50 years.
Speaker Biographies:
Park Dietz, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.
Dr. Dietz founded Park Dietz & Associates, a forensic consulting firm, and Threat Assessment Group, the world’s first workplace violence prevention company. In 2009, Dr. Dietz was named one of the “Top 25 Most Influential People in the Security Industry” by Security magazine. In 2010, he was awarded the “Seymour Pollack Award for Distinguished Contributions to Education in Forensic Psychiatry” by the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. In 2014, Biography.com listed Dr. Dietz among the 10 most famous psychiatrists in history.
Dr. Dietz has testified and/or consulted in all 50 states, participating in such notable cases as those involving the assassination attempts on President Reagan and on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Jeffrey Dahmer and more than 25 other serial killers, the Unabomber, the DC sniper cases, the school shootings at Columbine, and civil suits against churches, schools, and youth-serving organizations for the sexual abuse of children.
Educated at Cornell and Johns Hopkins, Dr. Dietz simultaneously earned an M.D., a master’s degree in public health, and a Ph.D. in sociology. He was a psychiatry resident at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Chief Fellow in Forensic Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He served as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School and as Professor of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry and Professor of Law at the University of Virginia. He is currently Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the UCLA School of Medicine.
Dr. Dietz is a Past President of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Trauma Research and the U.S. Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography. He has served as a forensic psychiatrist for both the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit and the New York State Police Forensic Sciences Unit. He has authored more than 100 publications on sex offenders, mentally disordered offenders, violent criminals, and forensic psychiatry. He directed a five-year study for the National Institute of Justice on mentally disordered offenders who threaten and stalk public figures and headed a two-year privately funded study of risks to the children and families of executives and other public figures.
Nicholas Scurich, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor of Psychology & Social Behavior, and Criminology, Law, & Society
Nicholas Scurich is an assistant professor with appointments in the Departments of Psychology & Social Behavior, Criminology, Law & Society, and the School of Law at the University of California, Irvine. He earned his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Southern California in 2012, as well as a Ph.D. achievement award — a university-wide award for the most exceptional doctoral candidate. From 2010-11 he was a Fellow of the Saks Institute at the USC Gould School of Law. In 2013, the Association for Psychological Science (APS) named him a “Rising Star.” His research examines judgment and decision making, especially within legal settings. Professor Scurich has also published several articles on violence risk assessment and risk communication. He was recently named the recipient of the Saleem Shah Award for Early Career Excellence in Psychology and Law.
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