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Biomedical subjects

C D Webster

Publications and source records attributed to C D Webster.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Images of law and disorder: a survey of forensic mental health professionals in Ontario, Canada.

In this article we report on a survey that was organized to expand knowledge across a range of medicolegal issues and pragmatic applications. We wanted to provide forensic professionals with an opportunity to express their views on these various forensic trends, and on their relevance for expert identities, statuses and activities across a broad spectrum of contexts and concerns. In an exploratory framework, the intention was to operationalize many of these developments in systems, laws, ideas and practices, and to present them as structured questions for the consideration of respondents representing the full complement of mental health disciplines connected to the criminal court apparatus in one Canadian province. In what follows we set out to sketch their images of law and disorder, and their specific opinions about the role of forensic practitioners, the nature of forensic assessment and decision-making, the relationship between mental disorder and crime, the application of treatment and punishment, and the overall process of criminal court adjudication and sentencing.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1988

Patients on Warrants of the Lieutenant Governor in Alberta: a statistical summary with comments on treatment and release procedures.

Files on all 48 Alberta patients under Warrants of the Lieutenant Governor were reviewed in late 1984, early 1985. Few were on Warrant as a result of unfitness to stand trial and all carried a primary diagnosis involving major mental disorder. More than half were considered paranoidal. Two-thirds of the population had killed someone or attempted to do so. Only eight had not previously been inpatients in psychiatric hospitals. Nearly half of the patients offended against relatives. Close to two-thirds had a previous criminal record. The Alberta Hospital's Forensic Service is described as is the province's Board of Review. Two brief case studies help portray the system of gradual release. The authors comment on the design of services for this group of patients known to be hard to treat and administer.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

HELP: an educational forensic psychiatric assessment program.

This paper describes the establishment of an educational group, Health through Education in Law and Psychiatry (HELP), within an inpatient forensic psychiatric assessment service. Until recently HELP sessions have been provided twice weekly to suitable patients during their stay of some 30 days at the Metropolitan Toronto Forensic Service (METFORS). We first outline very briefly the function of METFORS, then describe the HELP project broadly, and finally discuss the rationale of the program in greater detail. Our point is that programs of this type form an added resource in assessment and in the early stages of treatment. We also argue that, along with the accepted clinical role in assessment, forensic psychiatrists and colleagues in related disciplines can serve a valuable role as teacher and therapist.

Cognition↗
PubMed1984

The Fitness to stand trial Interview Test: how four professions rate videotaped fitness interviews.

The results of this study provide some preliminary support for the use of the FIT as a method for providing structure to interviewers. The FIT may be particularly useful as a guide for making initial decisions about fitness. It was suggested that a screening evaluation based on the FIT could be completed by any properly trained individual with some professional background. The more difficult cases can be referred for lengthier evaluations. Of course, further research on the use of the FIT with actual defendants in real assessments will need to occur before such a procedure can be used as a matter of routine. Finally, the FIT promises to be an effective research tool for isolating professional group differences in definitions of fitness and the importance of different aspects of it, from both a legal and a mental health perspective.

Expert Testimony↗
PubMed1978

Condon's multiple-response phenomenon in severely dysfunctional children: an attempt at replication.

The present study was conducted in an attempt to replicate the findings of William Condon on multiple entrainment and dyssynchronous behavioral organization in autistic children. Three autistic and two normal children were filmed while being presented with five discrete auditory stimuli. Microkinesic analyses of the children's motor responses were performed in relation to three hypotheses designed to support the double-response and dyssynchrony effects. No firm evidence of multiple-responding to single sound was found for the autistic or normal children. There was some indication of dyssynchronous, or awkward, response organization for the autistic children, in comparison to the smooth-flowing body movements of the normal children.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1977

Simultaneous communication with autistic and other severely dysfunctional nonverbal children.

Despite its widespread application, the teaching of speech does not appear to be effective with all autistic and other severely dysfunctional, nonverbal children. A body of recent evidence points to the peculiarities in the information processing of these children and to the importance of gestures as aids or alternatives to speech. The present study reports on the use of simultaneous communication (gestures plus speech) with five such children. The fact that four of the five children showed marked gains in their ability to communicate over a 5-week period raises some theoretical and methodological issues pertinent to the treatment of autistic and autistic-like children and to our general understanding of the processes involved in nonverbal communication.

Autistic Disorder↗