Introduction
Interviewing is a way of collecting information from a person or a group of people. The type of interview will depend on some factors like; the kind of information, the person to be interviewed and the urgency of the information required. In cases of law, and in the criminal justice system, interviewing the defendant or the person believed to have committed the offence is of great importance. It will not only give information about if he committed the offence but also about a plea of insanity to explain and excuse a crime. (Toufexis 2002).
Main body
In the case at hand, it is important to look at and protect the integrity of the mental evidence. The mental evidence is as important as the physical evidence and it can also be contaminated and corrupted. Forensic psychiatry can be applied in this case. It is the application of the principles of psychiatry to matters of law. The psychiatrist or psychologist is supposed to evaluate whether the accused is mentally competent to stand trial. He should also assess the state of mind of that person during the time he committed that offense. In any interview, there will be things like introduction, rapport building, guidelines for the interview, and a narrative description of the event. There will also be follow up questions and clarification. The step wise interview is appropriate in this case.. (Routine Psychiatric Assessment 2002).
Apart from the above steps which are general for an interview, the steps in this method will usually begin with the most open, least leading, least suggestive form of questioning and then proceed to more suggestive form of questioning when necessary. Such an interview will determine whether the person was insane, whether he has a mental disease, whether he emotionally appreciates the wrongfulness of the actions and if he can be assisted to recover from such an act. (Toufexis 2002).
It can always help to reveal the correct mental status. This is done by giving out open headed questions and not leading questions. One will be able to gather the true and right information if only you aim at seeking the truth and justice. There are different ways of assessing this mental evidence, you can interview the person which is the very common way of gathering information, and you can also interview the witnesses if any. In this case, we interview the person.. (Routine Psychiatric Assessment 2002).
During the interview, there are some important concepts of the clients mental status which should be determined, this include; insanity, emotional expression, thinking and perception. The client might have been insane by the time he committed the crime. A mental psychiatrist should seek to determine if the person has a history of insanity. Such information will determine if the person is able to stand trial or not. (Toufexis 2002).
A person who has stress can react in a way when he does not know if what he does is right or wrong. Judgment will be conducted with the knowledge that this person was stressed and it will therefore be fair. Depression or manic expressions can influence the acts of a person. In general, any form of mental illness or disorder has to be considered during forensic interview. In our case there are possibilities that the person is hallucinating, there is also a possibility that he is suffering stress from the death of the father. (Routine Psychiatric Assessment 2002).
Conclusion
Mental status assessment procedures are vulnerable to error because of interviewer cultural effects. It has to be understood that an individual’s culture can affect his mental state. Spiritual beliefs are some of the issues to be considered in this case where the man argues that he was sent by the gods. The man also believes that he must stay away from parents when searching for employment; he believes on self dependency even though he is not working, these things affect his daily life. These factors must be considered before coming to a strong conclusion about the client’s mental state. (Sommers 1998).
References
Toufexis, A. ( 2002). A psychiatrist’s eye view of murder and insanity. 2009. Web.
Assessment Routine Psychiatric. (2002). Web.
Sommers.J. (1998), Clinical Interviewing, John Wiley and Sons. New York.