Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
J Trauma Stress. 2018 Jun;31(3):391-400. doi: 10.1002/jts.22288. Epub 2018 May 22.
The United States permits foreign nationals to apply for asylum if they have experienced persecution or have a fear of future persecution. In order to meet the criteria for persecution, the harm inflicted upon the asylum seeker does not need to be or have been physical and can include psychological sequelae. In an effort to document persecution, lawyers seek the assistance of health professionals when preparing their clients' asylum applications. Mental health professionals work to corroborate psychological evidence of the asylum seeker's report of ill treatment through evaluation and presentation of their findings in the form of legal affidavits. This study gathered the experiences of 15 mental health clinicians who conduct forensic psychological evaluations and document the impact of torture and other human rights violations on asylum seekers. We analyzed the resulting interview transcripts using a consensual qualitative research (CQR) approach. The results of the study highlight challenges associated with this work, suggest recommendations for training, and encourage advocacy endeavors by mental health professionals who provide these services.
美国允许外国国民申请庇护，如果他们曾遭受迫害或担心未来会受到迫害。为了符合迫害的标准，寻求庇护者所遭受的伤害不一定是或曾经是身体上的，也可以包括心理后遗症。为了记录迫害，律师在准备客户的庇护申请时寻求健康专业人员的协助。心理健康专业人员通过评估和以法律宣誓书的形式陈述他们的发现，来证实寻求庇护者报告的虐待行为的心理证据。这项研究收集了 15 名进行法医心理评估的心理健康临床医生的经验，记录了酷刑和其他侵犯人权行为对寻求庇护者的影响。我们使用共识定性研究（CQR）方法分析了由此产生的访谈记录。研究结果突出了与这项工作相关的挑战，为培训提出了建议，并鼓励提供这些服务的心理健康专业人员进行宣传。
