Dan presents Tom Powell of Vermont Forensic Assessment the book Inside The Criminal Mind to be donated to the Pierson Library in his name.
Danica and Liam Moeller, Maggie Holmes and Tom Powell are our guests today…
Dan talked about his experience in Honduras last week. He will share some slides and commentary in the future.
Stan Slonka will be memorialized Friday March 23 at 3:00. More details to follow.
Denis Barton introduced Tom Powell, Ph.D. founding partner of Vermont Forensic Assessment. Tom was the long time director of clinical services for the Vermont Department of Corrections. Tom as his Ph.D from the University of Vermont in clinical psychology. Tom lives in South Burlington with his wife and therapy dog Willie and has four adult sons and three grandchildren.
Tom has four partners in the firm and one tiny Bijou named Willie, who works hard as a therapy dog. VFA does psychological assessments for the State of Vermont and the judicial system of Vermont.
What is forensic psychology? The intersection of the law and psychology. The assessment tool provides the legal system with the information it needs to provide the best outcomes for the individuals coming through.
Tom provided examples citing issues of physical abuse and the role it may have played in a person’s criminal history, a person’s trauma history, does it have mitigating circumstances in a mental illness? These individuals can have “blind spots and tunnel vision” because they literally, do not know that their behavior is abnormal.
There are also the issues of insanity and competency. Did a criminal experience insanity while conducting the crime and was there an existence of mental illness? Or, was the behavior a result of this mental illness?
Competency - can you go to court now and stand trial or will your behavior work against you, can you conduct yourself in court that will help you or hurt you? Often, time is required for an individual to reach the point of competency.
As is apparent to all of us, addiction is definitely a common denominator in all of these situations.
VFA work with children as well, children who threaten in school, all with similar features, often they are victims of bullying and are experiencing loneliness.
And finally, VFA utilizes interviews, record reviews and psychological testing as methods of which they assess. This can include the words of collaterals, family and friends.
Dan presented the book “Inside The Criminal Mind” by Stanton E. Samenow to be donated in Tom’s name to the Pierson Library.