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Competency

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology

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Synonyms

Capacity

Definition

Competency is a legal determination to be made by a legal professional (i.e., judge). It relates to a person’s capacity (a clinical status as judged by a health-care professional) to make determinations/decisions or to perform certain functions. In a legal context, competency typically relates to one’s understanding of issues related to involvement in a legal proceeding (Reisner and Slobogin 1990). Such an understanding necessitates some degree of acknowledgment regarding the nature of the procedure, the risks involved, success estimates, possible alternative options/approaches, and the pros and cons of specific courses of action. Issues related to competency can be raised at any time during the criminal judicial process. Specific competencies in the criminal realm include competence to confess (or waive rights at pretrial investigations), competency to plead guilty, competency to waive right to counsel, competency to stand trial, competency to be...

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References and Readings

  • Denney, R. L. (2005). Criminal forensic neuropsychology and assessment of competency. In G. Larrabee (Ed.), Forensic neuropsychology: A scientific approach. New York: Oxford University Press.

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  • Dusky v. United States, 362 U.S. 402 (1960).

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  • Grisso, T. (1988). Competency to stand trial evaluations: A manual for practice. Sarasota: Professional Resource Exchange.

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  • Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry. (1974). Misuse of psychiatry in the criminal courts: Competency to stand trial. New York: Committee on Psychiatry and Law.

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  • Marson, D. C., & Hebert, K. (2005). Assessing civil competencies in older adults with dementia: Consent capacity, financial capacity, and testamentary capacity. In G. Larrabee (Ed.), Forensic neuropsychology: A scientific approach. New York: Oxford University Press.

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  • Reisner, R., & Slobogin, B. (1990). Law and the mental health system (2nd ed.). St. Paul: West.

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  • Wieter v. Settle (1961). 193 F. Supp. 318 (W.D. Mo., 1961).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. US Department of Veteran Affairs, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Moira C. Dux

Authors
  1. Moira C. Dux
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Moira C. Dux .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Richmond, Virgin Islands, USA

    Jeffrey Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation , West Orange, New Jersey, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Suite 200 , Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Dux, M.C. (2017). Competency. In: Kreutzer, J., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_827-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_827-2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

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