Physical And Psychological Symptoms Of A Psychiatric Disorder

Do does with a Psychiatric Disorder Malinger? The legal definition of malingering is the deliberate feigning or gross exaggeration of physical and psychological symptoms in order to gain a positive outcome or to avoid punishment. As people, we all at one point have purposely malingered in our lives. Whether it has been falsifying a headache, to exaggerating one. The problem with malingering is that, it is very difficult to diagnose, not only because it lacks evident evidence, but also because the symptoms are more emotional and mental than anything. Now a days, it has become a major concern for the courts. Failure to diagnose malingering can have a severe impact in the criminal justice system, not only does the defendant avoids†¦show more content†¦In Psychopathy and Malingering of Psychiatric Disorder in Criminal Defendants (2006), the article talks about several validated measures being use for the detection of malingering. The common known ones are the MMPI-2, PAI who have been known to accurately detect malingering. Also, the frequency scale and the F-K scale, that have revealed to be one of the best validity indicators for perceiving exaggerated biases (L. Thomas Kucharski, 2006). The SIRS (structured interview of reported symptoms, 1991), has also become an essential tool for detecting malingering, this measured is based on an interview format. Although yes the instruments do exist, and it is possible to be able to measure the extent of malingering and biases behind it, evaluators’ face the problem of thes e biases impacting the evaluations of criminal defendants that do present psychopathic characteristics. The key point of this article is to determine whether psychopaths are more likely to exaggerate their symptoms, but also know which of those characteristics associated with psychopathy are associated with the exaggeration of symptoms (L. Thomas Kucharski, 2006). To prove the association of psychopaths with malingering, a study was conducted on a group of 280 male criminal defendants who were referred by the courts for competency to stand trial, and to be evaluated on their criminal