Writing Forensic Reports: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals

Although report writing is an integral part of the practice of forensic psychiatry, few resources are devoted to teaching this skill. Daniel Greenfield and Jack Gottschalk, the authors of Writing Forensic Reports: A Guide for Mental Health Professionals, wrote the handbook to “assist the neophyte, novice, apprentice (trainee), reasonably experienced, and very experienced forensic mental health practitioner with forensic expert report writing.” Although the book may be useful for students and residents considering forensic psychiatry, it does not provide enough specific guidance about report writing to be helpful to the “reasonably experienced” or “very experienced” forensic psychiatric expert.

The handbook consists of seven chapters divided into three sections. The first section, the “Introduction,” consists of two chapters. The first chapter, titled “The Importance of Forensic Reports,” makes a compelling case for studying forensic report writing and provides an overview of the book. The chapter closes with seven “pointers” for working collaboratively with counsel that are needlessly repeated in the epilogue of the book. While these suggestions, such as avoiding delays and remaining focused on the task at hand, are useful to forensic mental health professionals, only one of the recommendations, “communicate clearly,” is specific to report writing.

“Forensic Reports and the Law” is the title of the second chapter, which provides an excellent concise overview of the role of forensic reports in civil and criminal cases. The authors also describe landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases that examine the admissibility of expert witness testimony.

The second section of the handbook, “The Reports,” is divided into four chapters. The second and fifth chapters review full criminal and civil reports, respectively, and the remaining two chapters, four and six, provide synopses of criminal and civil reports.

“The Reports” section includes full-length reports that offer good, practical teaching opportunities. Unfortunately, Greenfield and Gottschalk do not fully use the reports as educational tools. They identify areas in which each report models good practices, such as using American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) diagnoses; however, there is no adequate discussion about how each report, although generally well-written, could be improved. For example, the first sample report in Chapter Three, “State v. Edward Taylor Hard,” examines the role of voluntary intoxication in a homicide. The report's author chooses not to describe details of the incident in the report, “in the interest of saving time.” Given the seriousness of the case, the expert's decision to omit details of the alleged offense could be used by opposing counsel during cross-examination to undermine the expert's opinion(s). In addition, the expert states that the fatality occurred during “what appears to have been a bar brawl.” The expert's choice of words, implying that the expert is uncertain of key details in the case, is potentially problematic.¹ The author should have identified the source of information about the “bar brawl.”

Two chapters that provide brief vignettes of criminal and civil forensic cases are also included in Section Two. Each vignette is approximately two to three paragraphs long and presents a question of referral, a brief synopsis of the expert's analysis, and the expert's opinion. These chapters provide a good overview of a variety of referral concerns, but no specific advice about report writing.

The final section is an epilogue that restates the seven recommendations for working collaboratively with attorneys. Also included are six appendices, among which are a guide to abbreviations, additional resources, and a concise discussion of psychological testing.

Overall, the book is a well-organized overview of a wide range of questions and problems attending forensic psychiatric referrals. As noted, the book is a first edition and has room for improvement. Future editions could benefit from more detailed advice about report writing and more comprehensive analyses of sample expert reports. Despite the handbook's limitations, the authors deserve a great deal of credit for compiling an interesting array of reports, with commentaries, that may be of use to forensic mental health experts in their practices.

• American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law