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Malingering

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"Malingering is diagnosed if the person is intentionally producing or grossly exaggerating physical symptoms and is motivated by external incentives such as avoiding work or obtaining financial compensation" (Butcher, et al., 2014). Unlike in clinical settings, forensic psychology professionals are more likely to face clients who malinger by faking true symptoms of a disorder. Therefore, it is imperative that a forensic psychology professional has a good understanding of malingering and its impact on secondary gains for the client in forensic settings. These secondary gains may be avoiding trial or being found not guilty by the courts due to insanity.

a summary of malingering, and why you think criminal defendants might be inclined to malinger. Discuss the benefits and limitations of tools forensic psychology professionals use to determine if a criminal defendant is malingering. Finally, explain the major differences in the roles of therapeutic and forensic psychology.

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The solution provides information, assistance and advise in tackling the task (see above) on the topic of malingering. Resources are listed for further exploration of the topic.

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Dear Student,
Hi and thank you for using Brainmass. The solution below should get you started. In this particular task, you are asked to explain what malingering is all about. I suggest making your answer simple using this outline:

1. About malingering - 150 words
2. Iterations, Causes - 150 words
3. Useful tools - 150 words
4. Therapeutic vs. Forensic Psychology - 150 words

This outline should yield around 600 words which should cover what you need. Just let me know via the feedback section if you need further clarification. You can also use the listed resources to further explore the topic. All the best with your studies.

Sincerely,
AE 105878/Xenia Jones

Malingering

What is malingering? According to the American Psychiatric Association (2000) has defined Malingering as "the intentional production of false or grossly exaggerated physical or psychological symptoms motivated by external incentives..." Essentially, malingering is not seen as a psychological condition (Conroy and Kwartner, 2006) but an intent wherein the reward is to achieve a particular diagnosis which in turn is seen as beneficial to the cause or goals of the individual deemed to be 'malingering'. When an individual is malingering therefore, especially in the case of experts doing the examination and suspecting the 'client' or individual examined as malingering, it is important to establish volition and motivation (external). According to Cronin (2014), with the nature of psychology, especially therapeutic psychology being avowed to provide help as well as relief, the nature of a client-expert/counselor relationship is thus trusting wherein it is expected that the clients are disclosing as truthfully as possible for only then can they find the most effective help and treatment for their condition. But forensic psychology is different in that it operates within the framework of the law, made more complicated, in certain cases, by the rewards (and benefits) being evaluated as a particular kind of 'insane' (Cronin, 2014) provides in relation to court investigations, arguments, ...

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Xenia Rochelle Jones, MA, PhD (IP)
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  • MA, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
  • Certificate, Geva Ulpan (via Universita Tel Aviv)
  • BA, University of the Philippines
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