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Traumatic Stress and the Differential Diagnosis of Malingering

Although the detection of malingering is a legitimate concern of health professionals, it rarely features in training schedules and attracts little attention in journals of traumatic stress. But the item is raised here because of a specific request from the prosecution to examine the claim of traumatic amnesia raised by the defence against charges of murder and robbery. The request evoked examples from earlier professional practice in prisons and psychiatric units, and led to a search for reliable methods of assessment. The outcome, set within the usual time-constraints imposed by the Courts, resulted in the use of an ad hoc method for the analysis of Police-videotaped interviews. The justification for the method, and the proof of the conclusion lies in the fact that even the most adversarial of lawyers was obliged to accept the opinion and admit to the Court that his client had lied. The findings are presented here, buttressed with appropriate references to the work of leading expert witnesses and researchers, to suggest that malingering in clinical, criminal, and civil matters should receive more priority in textbooks of abnormal psychology and in the training of health professionals.

Key Words: malingering trauma • murder • clinical appraisal

Traumatology, Vol. 9, No. 4, 197-215 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/153476560300900403


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