Forensic child and adolescent psychiatry: from field experiences to education standards.

OBJECTIVE: Forensic evaluation of children is one of the most problematic areas of child and adolescent psychiatry. In this study we aimed to examine Turkish Child and adolescent psychiatrists' attitudes and problems in forensic psychiatry.

METHOD: Thirty nine (80%) of all practitioners who are on their compulsory medical service programme countrywide were reached and requested to complete a questionnaire.

RESULTS: 76.9% of the specialists found their education to be inadequate in dealing with practical issues. The most common reason of this inadequacy was endorsed as not receiving structured forensic evaluation training. The inadequate number or skills of health professionals from other disciplines and excessive workload were the leading factors mentioned as negatively affecting the quality of assessments. Most favoured solutions to solve current problems were reported as reorganising the residency training and curriculum of child and adolescent psychiatrists and establishing education programmes for other disciplines.

CONCLUSION: The standardisation of forensic psychiatry education in child and adolescent psychiatry training and the establishment of global standards for forensic evaluation teams and processes should be considered as the first steps in enhancing the global quality of child and adolescent forensic psychiatric evaluations.