Kenneth Padowitz - Fort Lauderdale Criminal Defense Attorney

The courts take a jab at civil detention practices: What about professionals?

The trend in the courts In the last three months, two consecutive court decisions have deemed the civil commitment program to be unconstitutional. Which is insightful because 20 states and the federal government uphold some form of the civil commitment laws also called “SVP” laws. To put it simply, the laws permit authorities to confine indefinitely, sex offenders expertly assessed to have mental diagnosis that makes them more likely to engage in future sexual violence. In retrospect, the laws have had several dates with [...]

The courts take a jab at civil detention practices: What about professionals?Kenneth Padowitz2024-07-29T19:50:27+00:00

Forensic Psychologists Examine Why Criminals Post Crimes on Social Media

For those of us who live quiet, law-abiding lives, it seems difficult to imagine why anyone would incriminate themselves by posting videos of a crime in progress, or activity leading up to a crime. Yet an article in the Guardian reports that crime connected with social media have risen 780% over the last four years. The posts ranged from grooming, stalking, and preparatory statements to “selfies” of violent crimes in progress. Police are challenged with having to walk a fine line between allowing freedom [...]

Forensic Psychologists Examine Why Criminals Post Crimes on Social MediaKenneth Padowitz2024-07-29T19:45:52+00:00

The Unflinching “Super-Optimism” of Criminals

The Supervillains of the Underworld You practically cannot be as super-optimistic as criminals can. It is almost as though it is a super power. However, it is one super power that has made many lose their freedom and complete liberty. The bloated population in the country’s prisons is a testament to this assertion. This super power is in one called super-optimism. Criminals always expect to achieve success in any endeavor. They plan meticulously, gather resources, and when it is time to go hot, they [...]

The Unflinching “Super-Optimism” of CriminalsKenneth Padowitz2024-07-29T19:40:51+00:00

What Constitutes a Criminal Assault?

Forensic psychologists are often called upon to provide an expert opinion in assault cases. They may be required to assess the overall state of a person facing assault charges or the assault victim. It is therefore important to first understand what constitutes a criminal assault charge before a psychological assessment is done. For most people, the term criminal assault often brings up violent images of fights, brawls, and battery. However, assault and battery are two different legal concepts with distinct elements. An assault can [...]

What Constitutes a Criminal Assault?Kenneth Padowitz2024-07-29T19:37:07+00:00

Confessions, Forensic Psychology, and DNA Evidence

One of the tasks of a forensic psychologist is to interview an alleged perpetrator who has given a confession with an eye toward judging whether the person understands the gravity of having confessed and whether he or she understands what it is that has been confessed. It has been discovered that confessions are not always the last word in accuracy and that they can be extracted in a variety of ways. Once there is a confession, efforts to locate new or contradictory evidence concerning [...]

Confessions, Forensic Psychology, and DNA EvidenceKenneth Padowitz2024-07-29T19:25:37+00:00

Juvenile Sex Offender: Myth versus Reality

Busting the Myth It goes by different apothegms, “Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior,” “A ticking time bomb,” “Old habits die hard”… Whatever form it takes, the idea is simple and generalized. That one who has committed an offense before is more likely to commit the same offense again. It even has a fancy word “recidivism.” The idea permeates the public space. Such that just about any average person on the street would accept that any juvenile arrested for a sex [...]

Juvenile Sex Offender: Myth versus RealityKenneth Padowitz2024-07-29T19:20:30+00:00

Crime and Religion: Explaining the Antithesis

The Antithesis It is paradoxical that individuals who devote their life to criminality often associate with a religion and put up the notion that they are devout adherents. It might involve regularly attending a place of worship—a church, mosque, or synagogue. In addition, they may observe holidays, festivals, and read religious texts. Many go as far as adorning religious ornaments. Lifting the Veil The primary explanation for this oddity resides in the word—compartmentalization. Criminals keep their religious beliefs and practices away from their everyday [...]

Crime and Religion: Explaining the AntithesisKenneth Padowitz2024-07-29T19:13:53+00:00

Delusions and the Social World: The Connection

Has there ever been a society where deluded individuals did not exist? - The answer is probably no. At one time or another, virtually every psychiatric hospital of decent size had their hands full with people who thought they were Jesus Christ or spies for either of two cold-warring intelligence agencies—CIA or KGB. Today, the mix is evolving. We now have quite a lot of individuals who think they are reality TV stars—the Kardashians in the psych wards so to speak. For these individuals, [...]

Delusions and the Social World: The ConnectionKenneth Padowitz2024-07-29T19:09:46+00:00

Deindividuation

Some of our recent discussions have been concerned with topics relating to how individuals tend to underestimate the role of environmental or situational influences on behavior, and to overestimate individual personality factors, when concerning other people. To recap, the fundamental attribution error is a term, which refers to the common human error in which people tend to underestimate situational influences and overestimate individual personality factors, when explaining behavior. We also looked at one example of the fundamental attribution error, crimes of obedience, which is defined as: [...]

DeindividuationKenneth Padowitz2024-07-29T19:04:02+00:00

Study Review: Borderline Personality Disorder and Social-Cognitive Deficits

Those afflicted with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are characterized with a variety of cognitive and emotional deficits seen throughout life regarding the regulation of emotions, impulsivity, and maladaptive images of self and others. This often leads to a pattern of unstable interpersonal relationships. Early life trauma and genetics are theorized to play major roles in the development of this condition. Up until recently, research has mostly been focused on the neurophysiological abnormalities that may play a role in the disorder, particularly in the amygdala, [...]

Study Review: Borderline Personality Disorder and Social-Cognitive DeficitsKenneth Padowitz2024-07-29T18:53:47+00:00

About Kenneth Padowitz