Evaluating Sexual Harassment: Psychological, Social, and Legal Considerations in Forensic Examinations

Evaluating Sexual Harassment provides psychologists with essential information for conducting an evidence-based forensic consultation. The authors acquaint readers with the clinical and social scientific literature on sexual harassment, and apply these findings to issues that psychologists must consider in preparing ethically sound and well-substantiated forensic reports and testimony.

This book integrates existing research with current case law on sexual harassment. It offers a method for conducting a comprehensive evaluation of a plaintiff, as well as a science-based approach to the two major issues in sexual harassment disputes: causation and credibility. Of particular interest to readers will be two illustrative case reports and the chapter on alternate dispute resolution.

This book will be a valuable resource for the experienced forensic practitioner seeking a comprehensive review of the research. For beginning evaluators who want to initiate practice in this area, this book provides a framework that is grounded in research and sound practice.

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Sexual Harassment: An Evolving Social-Psychological Phenomenon
2. Harassers, Harassment Contexts, Same-Sex Harassment, Workplace Romance, and Harassment Theories
3. The Legal Framework in Sexual Harassment Cases
4. The Forensic Evaluation: Practical, Legal, and Ethical Contours
5. Assessing Liability Issues
6. Evaluation of Damages
7. Alternate Dispute Resolution in Sexual Harassment Claims: Neutral Fact-Finding, Mediation, and Arbitration

Appendix A: Complex Case Involving Male on Female Sexual Harassment Allegations

Appendix B: Allegations of Male on Male Sexual Harassment and Retaliation

References

Table of Authorities

Index

About the Authors

William E. (Bill) Foote, PhD, has been in private practice as a forensic psychologist for 25 years in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dr. Foote's practice has centered on the application of forensic psychology in criminal and civil cases. He is the clinical director for the Society of Northern Renewal, a not-for-profit organization that provides treatment to Inuit sex abuse victims in Arctic Canada. He has been a consultant to the New Mexico State Hospital, the Indian Health Service, and the New Mexico State Police. He has served on the adjunct faculties of the School of Law, the School of Medicine, and the Department of Psychology of the University of New Mexico. He received his diplomate (board certification) in forensic psychology in 1984, and was president of the board of directors of the American Board of Forensic Psychology in 2003–2004. He has been active in his state psychological association (president, ethics chair, legislative chair) and with APA (council representative, chair of the Committee on Legal Issues, Committee on Professional Practice, Division 31 president). He is a fellow of the APA and received an APA Presidential Citation for his activities in psychology and law.

Jane Goodman-Delahunty, JD, PhD, directs the postgraduate program in forensic psychology at the School of Psychology, University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. She hails from Johannesburg, South Africa, where she began her career as a French and English teacher. She lived in the United States for 25 years, completing a Juris Doctor in 1983 at the University of Seattle School of Law and a PhD in 1986 at the University of Washington. For 10 years she divided her energy between psychology research on the cognitive faculty in the Department of Psychology of the University of Washington in Seattle and legal practice, litigating employment discrimination cases for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and in private practice with Frank Rosen Freed Roberts LLM. From 1992 to 2001, she served as an administrative judge at the Los Angeles District Office of the EEOC. During this time she developed a practice in mediation, arbitration, and neutral fact-finding techniques. She has taught employment discrimination on the adjunct faculties of the Seattle University School of Law and Whittier Law School. She was president of Division 41, the American Psychology-Law Society in 1995, and is an APA fellow. Since 2000, she has served as editor-in-chief of the interdisciplinary journal and law review, Psychology, Public Policy, and Law. She has been a part-time commissioner on the New South Wales Law Reform Commission since 2002.

A wonderful resource for forensics students, forensics veterans, and those who suspect they are victims. Highly recommended.
—CHOICE Magazine