Evaluations for High Stakes Sentencing: Capital and Juvenile Murder Cases
Presented by Mark Cunningham, PhD, ABPP
This self-paced training program on Evaluations for High Stakes Sentencing is presented by Mark Cunningham, PhD, ABPP.
Landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases such as Woodson, Jurek, Atkins, and Miller mandated individualized sentencing when the death penalty is sought or a defendant is facing a life-without-parole for an offense committed as a juvenile. Mental health professionals are routinely called upon to assist in illuminating the associated considerations of moral culpability and specific deterrence. The course is divided into four modules, each focusing on a high stakes sentencing context or issue:
1. Evaluation for capital mitigation
2. Capital violence risk assessment for prison
3. Evaluation of intellectual disability
4. Evaluation in juvenile murder.
For each type of evaluation, Dr. Cunningham describes the conceptual underpinnings, evaluation procedures, relevant research literature, and presents an analysis/integration of case data. He provides extensive illustrations of how the findings can be effectively communicated in reports and through slide-assisted testimony.
Upon completion of this course you will be able to:
Describe the contrasting theories of the State and defense at capital sentencing and how these are operationalized in evidence and argument
Describe moral culpability and its relationship to choice
Describe the procedures in conducting an evaluation of capital mitigation
Describe four methodologies for violence risk assessment
Describe the various sources for rates of serious prison violence and specify the primary inmate-specific correlates
Describe the conceptual basis for the exclusion of persons with ID from death-sentencing
Describe the two sources for the primary diagnostic criteria for ID and their common elements
Describe the evolution of diagnostic criteria for ID from DSM-IV-TR to DSM-5
Describe the four primary factors in brain maturation
Describe how brain immaturity impacts decision-making and susceptibility to peer influences
This is a badge-earning course, which means it will help you earn a certificate that can be showcased on digital platforms like LinkedIn.
Review Before Proceeding
Lesson 1 Video
Lesson 2 Video
Lesson Quiz
Lesson 3 Video
Lesson Quiz
Lesson 4 Video
Informed Consent
Lesson Quiz
Lesson 5 Video
Lesson Quiz
Lesson 6 Video
Lesson Quiz
Lesson 7 Video
Comprehensive Strategy
Lesson Quiz
Lesson 8 Video
A little early risk goes a long bad way
Lesson Quiz
Lesson 9 Video
Lesson Quiz
Lesson 10 Video
Lesson Quiz
Lesson 11 Video
Atkins v. Virginia
Lesson Quiz
Lesson 12 Video
The Flynn Effect
Lesson Quiz
Lesson 13 Video
Stanford-Binet and WAIS IQ
Lesson Quiz
Lesson 14 Video
Social cognitive development during adolescence
Lesson Quiz
Lesson 15 Video
Lesson Quiz
Instructions
Evaluation
Submission Verification
Custom training options for groups of 5 to 500+