Forensic Psychological Assessment in Immigration Court: A Guidbook for Evidence-Based and Ethical Practice

Forensic Psychological Assessment in Immigration Court is an essential specialized guide for psychologists and clinicians who work with immigrants. Immigration evaluations differ in many ways from other types of forensic assessments because of the psycholegal issues that extend beyond the individual, including family dynamics, social context, and cross-cultural concerns. Immigrants are often victims of trauma and require specialized expertise to elicit the information needed for assessment. Having spent much of their professional careers as practicing forensic psychologists, authors Evans and Hass have compiled a comprehensive text that draws on forensic psychology, psychological assessment, traumatology, family processes, and national and international political forces to present an approach for the effective and ethical practice of forensic psychological assessment in Immigration Court.

About the Author

F. Barton Evans, Ph.D. is a clinical and forensic psychologist in private practice in Asheville, NC and a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the James H. Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University. He is a Fellow of the Society for Personality Assessment and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Division 12). He is a forensic psychological consultant and expert for courts in immigration law, family law, personal injury, and criminal matters.

Giselle A. Hass, Psy.D., ABAP is a licensed psychologist in Virginia and the District of Columbia and is a Diplomate by the American Board of Assessment Psychology. For the past 25 years, she has worked as a forensic expert and consultant in family and immigration law for local and national attorneys, non-profit, and government agencies. Since 2009, she has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, Center for Applied Legal Studies.