Synopsis
Violent offenders often claim amnesia in order to avoid punishment. It is important for investigators and juries to ascertain whether such amnesia is genuine or feigned; an offender with amnesia is not able to enter a plea, and issues of automatism are raised. There are also implications for the interview strategies employed by police officers, when amnesia is claimed. In addition, offenders who deny any memory of their crime tend are less likely to benefit from rehabilitation programmes. This edited collection will help forensic psychologists and forensic clinical psychologists. It is organized in three parts, part 1 discusses offenders' memories of violent crime, part 2 examines methodologies for testing claims of amnesia and part three outlines investigative and interviewing techniques for offenders who claim amnesia.