title: Assessment of competency for execution: professional guidelines and an evaluation checklist.
abstract: The issue of whether mental health professionals should be involved in conducting evaluations of competency for execution is a topic that has elicited controversy and heated debate. This article picks up at a point beyond the controversy and addresses issues of professionalism and the objective assessment of competency for execution. Specifically, this article identifies professional standards for conducting competence for execution (CFE) evaluations, describes current practices in this area, and provides an interview checklist that can be used as an evaluation guide by involved professionals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama, Box 870348, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0348, USA. pzapf@bama.ua.edu
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Zapf
authors.forename: Marcus T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Boccaccini
authors.forename: Stanley L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Brodsky
mesh_terms: D002203:Capital Punishment / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003416:Criminal Law / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States