Civil capacity assessment comes of age

What do these three situations have in common?

• A young adult with chronic schizophrenia refuses medication because she believes she is being poisoned 

• A middle-aged adult struggles to pay his bills after a traumatic brain injury from a motorcycle accident 

• An older adult with dementia revises a will to favor one stepchild over another

All are situations in which a forensic practitioner may be called upon to render an opinion on the individual's capacity, whether to make medical decisions, handle finances, or execute a will. As the population ages and family structures become increasingly complex, the demand for such civil capacity assessments is growing exponentially.

So it is only fitting that the inaugural text in the National Academy of Neuropsychology’s new series on evidence-based practice focuses on civil capacities. The book brings together theoretical developments, research findings and practice recommendations in this complex and expanding area.

Volume editor George Demakis, a psychology professor at the University of North Carolina with considerable clinical experience conducting civil capacity evaluations, has brought together an impressive array of experts. Together, they discuss the research and practice in a range of civil capacities, including financial, healthcare decision-making, testamentary (executing a will), driving, personal care and guardianship.

The field's evolution is clearly visible in this book's chapters. Only 26 years ago, Tom Grisso issued his paradigm-shifting call for the assessment of "functional capacities." Here, rather than focusing on diagnostic labels or one-size-fits-all checklists of ability, chapter authors urge practitioners to carefully explore the individual's real-life functioning, including through collateral reports and even direct evidence of performance (for example, by observing a subject's driving).

A central goal of the book is to provide practical guidance. Each chapter contains an illustrative case example and discusses the range of capacity instruments available in that particular niche. Later chapters focus on the nuts and bolts of data collection, report writing, and testifying. There's even a chapter from the perspective of "the legal consumer," in which two North Carolina court officers tell us what they would like to see in a civil capacity assessment report. Although it's rather elementary stuff for the seasoned forensic practitioner, the chapter makes for a useful teaching tool for students and other novitiates.

In a glowing review for PsyCritiques, Jennifer Moye calls the text "a must read" that is "certain to advance the field." Her one substantive critique is that it gave short shrift to how values and individual differences (including multicultural and educational influences) play into expert judgments of capacity. This is an important issue, considering the liberties that can be lost when people are declared incompetent to make their own medical decisions or to live independently in the community.

For a more thorough discussion of the issue of social status and capacity assessment, from the perspective of medical treatment, I recommend an essay by Susan Stefan in a special 1996 issue of Psychology, Public Policy and Law on the MacArthur Treatment Competence Research.

I was also a bit disappointed to see that last year's book by colleagues Adam Alban and Eric Mart on testamentary capacity didn't get even a nod. The book, The Practical Assessment of Testamentary Capacity and Undue Influence in the Elderly, is an excellent practitioner guide, which even includes a CD-ROM of assessment tools in this area.

These minor quibbles aside, Civil Capacities is a major advance that is sure to become an essential text for those working in this area, including neuropsychologists, forensic psychologists, attorneys and judges.

My Amazon review of Civil Capacities in Clinical Neuropsychology: Research Findings and Practical Applications is HERE. If you find it useful, please click on "YES," this review was helpful.