Reference no: EM132529453

Assignment: Mental Measures for Juvenile Offenders

Competencies Addressed in This Assignment

This assignment addresses the following competencies:

• Competency 1: Apply theoretical perspectives to motives for criminal behavior.

• Competency 2: Analyze the relationship between criminal psychology and criminal law.

• Competency 3: Analyze the relationship between society and criminal behavior.

• Competency 4: Apply scholarly research findings to topics in criminal psychology.

• Competency 5: Explain mental health testing and standards applicable in criminal courts.

• Competency 6: Communicate effectively in a professional manner.

Introduction: DSM-5 is a standard diagnostic tool for psychiatric disorders. It contains three main sections: "DSM-5 Basics," "Diagnostic Criteria and Codes," and "Emerging Measures and Models." The complete DSM archive (I-IV) plus eight reference books and four psychiatric journals are also available in the Capella library. DSM-5 is used by health professionals, social workers, and forensic and legal specialists to diagnose and classify mental disorders, providing concise and explicit criteria.

The Mental Measurements Yearbook (MMY) is a comprehensive guide to over 2,000 testing instruments in the areas of psychology, education, business, and leadership. Entries include publisher, test purpose, price, edited reviews, and purchase information, if available. It also contains additional information on reliability (getting the same results each time), validity (testing appropriate things), norming data, and scoring and reporting services. Foreign language versions of MMY are also available.

The MMY database is best used for exploration of tests and survey instruments. If you are researching tests for a course assignment, such as this one, the MMY is an excellent research tool.

Note: You may review the document Accessing the DSM-5 and the Mental Measurement Yearbook (given in the resources) to understand how to access these resources in the Capella library.

Instructions: For the assignment, create a 9-12-slide PowerPoint presentation for a group of trainee mental health professionals and legal representatives. In your presentation, explain three different measures that might be used to determine an appropriate diagnosis for a juvenile offender. The possible diagnoses are:

• ADHD.

• Oppositional defiance.

• Conduct disorder.

You may see overlap in the measures you examine but be sure your rationale addresses why a particular measure supports your choice for the specific disorder.

• Access the DSM-5 and find the criteria for each one of the disorders.

• Access the MMY and find a measure that you would use for each of the disorders.

• Include the following for each measure in your presentation:

- A brief description of the disorder (based on DSM-5 but in your own words).

- A description of the measure (based on the MMY but in your own words). Include primary audience, purpose, how the measure is administered, what it measures, and what its strengths and limitations are.

- A rationale for your choice.

Be sure to use one slide to succinctly deliver each of the three main points. Put your notes or explanatory and expanded information for each of the main points using the following option:

• In a separate Word document. Label each set of notes in the Word document with the number and title of the slide to which the notes refer. Important: Be sure to submit this document also to the assignment area.

Be sure you review the Mental Measures for Juvenile Offenders Scoring Guide to ensure that you have met all the criteria for this assignment.

Other Requirements

Your assignment should meet the following requirements:

• Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.

• APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting guidelines.

• Length of presentation: 9-12 slides, not including the title slide, the references slide, or the notes slides.

• References: A minimum of three references.

• SafeAssign: Use the SafeAssign Draft option to check your writing and ensure that you have paraphrased, quoted, and cited your sources appropriately. Run a SafeAssign report, saving your paper as a draft. Based on your SafeAssign results, make any necessary changes to your paper before submitting your assignment.

Provide in-text citations on your slides for the sources, and a reference slide at the end of the presentation.

Note: Your instructor may also use the Writing Feedback Tool to provide feedback on your writing. In the tool, click the linked resources for helpful writing information.