Workshop 1
Aging Defendants and the Law: Neuropsychological Factors Impacting Practice Across the Criminal Justice Continuum
7 CE hours
8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
Chriscelyn Tussey, Psy.D., ABPP
Lisa Y. Kan, Ph.D.
Beth C. Arredondo, Ph.D., ABPP
Bernice A. Marcopulos, Ph.D., ABPP
Shelby Hunter, Ph.D.
The rapid growth of the aging population is reshaping the demands placed on forensic psychologists. Older adults are increasingly involved in criminal, civil, and correctional proceedings, yet present with unique clinical, ethical, and systemic challenges. This intermediate workshop examines the integration of forensic and neuropsychology across each stage of the legal continuum, using real-world examples to illustrate how an aging defendant may progress through the system from referral through reentry.
This training will highlight distinctions between normative aging, neurodegenerative disease, psychiatric comorbidities, and intellectual disability, emphasizing their implications for forensic decision-making. Pretrial considerations will address competency, criminal responsibility, civil capacity, and mitigation, with attention to engagement strategies for cognitively impaired defendants and assessment challenges related to validity, fatigue, and sensory impairments. The trial-related section of this workshop will focus on effective communication of neuropsychological findings to courts, differentiating dementia, delirium, depression, and malingering, and testifying ethically about age-related decline. Correctional and civil commitment contexts will explore risk assessment, rehabilitation programming, and systemic barriers to adequate care. Reentry discussions will emphasize housing, supervision, and advocacy needs for aging individuals returning to the community.
Through case vignettes, interactive exercises, and role-play, participants will develop strategies for navigating the complex intersection of aging, cognition, and law. This workshop equips forensic psychologists, attorneys, and any practitioner in forensic mental health at all career stages with the tools to address emerging demands in practice, research, and policy related to aging populations in forensic contexts.
Describe normative aging, neurodegenerative disorders, psychiatric comorbidities, and intellectual disability in aging forensic populations.
Analyze systemic access issues and identify points of referral for geriatric neuropsychological consultation.
Apply assessment strategies that account for sensory loss, fatigue, test validity, and age adjusted norms in forensic evaluations.
Explain how complex neuropsychological evidence can be translated to provide clear, accurate testimony regarding aging defendants.
Evaluate correctional, release, and reentry considerations for older adults, including ethical and advocacy roles of forensic psychologists.