Animal Maltreatment
Forensic Mental Health Issues and Evaluations
Edited by Lacey Levitt, Gary Patronek, and Thomas Grisso
Author Information
Lacey Levitt, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist who completed specialized forensic training at the University of Virginia's Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy and the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She was one of the key researchers involved in the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit's Criminal Histories of Animal Cruelty Offenders project. Dr. Levitt has authored or co-authored several peer-reviewed publications on issues involving forensic populations. She has worked as a forensic psychologist in a county jail and as a clinical psychologist in the assessment unit of a state prison.
Gary Patronek, V.M.D., Ph.D., is a veterinarian and epidemiologist who works as an independent consultant. He also maintains an adjunct faculty appointment at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, where he was previously the Director of the Center for Animals and Public Policy and founded the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium (HARC). Dr. Patronek has authored or co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications. He is recognized as one of the nation's foremost experts on animal hoarding.
Thomas Grisso, Ph.D., ABPP (Forensic), a clinical psychologist, is Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and engages in consultation nationwide and internationally on forensic assessments and juvenile justice reform. He is nationally recognized as a leader in developing the field of forensic psychology; he pioneered concepts on which several types of forensic evaluations such as competence to stand trial have been developed. His research has focused on the development of models and methods for criminal, civil, and juvenile forensic assessments. Dr. Grisso has authored, co-authored or edited 14 books as well as a 19-volume book series for Oxford University Press on Forensic Mental Health Assessments. He serves as executive director of the American Board of Forensic Psychology.
Contributors:
Catherine Ayers, Ph.D., ABPP (Clinical), is a psychologist at the VA San Diego Healthcare System, Division Director of the La Jolla Mental Health Outpatient Clinics Assistant Professor at the University of California-San Diego Department of Psychiatry, and a faculty member in the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology. Dr. Ayers' research focuses on the treatment and neuropsychiatric characterization of hoarding and has been funded by the International OCD Foundation and the Veterans Health Administration. She is the author of over 40 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters on hoarding and anxiety disorders across the lifespan.
Christiana Bratiotis, Ph.D., M.S.W., is an Assistant Professor of Social Work. She teaches graduate level clinical practice courses and has a research specialization in hoarding disorder. Dr. Bratiotis investigates the formation and operation of hoarding community response networks. She is a cognitive behavioral therapist who treats individuals and families who experience hoarding. She provides international consultation and trainings, and her work has been featured by media outlets such as the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and Boston Globe.
Daniel L. Davis, Ph.D, ABPP (Forensic), is a senior forensic psychologist with Netcare Forensic Center in Columbus Ohio and is also in Private Practice. He has served in a number of capacities in youth serving and juvenile justice agencies in both clinical and administrative roles and has published in topics related to forensic assessment and therapeutic interventions with children and adolescents.
Mary Dozier, B.A., is a graduate student in the San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology. Her research focus is on geriatric hoarding and anxiety and she is the author of five peer-reviewed publications and four book chapters on hoarding disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder across the lifespan.
Terry Kukor, Ph.D., ABPP (Forensic), is the Director of Forensic and Specialized Assessment Services for Netcare Access in Columbus, Ohio. He serves as an adjunct professor in the Departments of Psychology at Drexel University and Miami University, and as a member of the Auxiliary Faculty, Department of Psychiatry, at The Ohio State University. At the Netcare Forensic Center, he performs and supervises criminal forensic evaluations on court-referred adults and juveniles.
Lisa Lunghofer, Ph.D., an expert in social policy and psychology, is Founder and Executive Director of Making Good Work, LLC, which specializes in helping animal-related programs and causes achieve results. She directs the Animals and Society Institute's AniCare and Rapid Response Program. She serves as a consultant to a variety of animal-related programs throughout the country, helping them to develop conceptual frameworks, write successful grant proposals, develop evaluation plans, craft marketing materials, and identify and track outcomes.
Lila Miller, D.V.M., a veterinarian, is Vice President of Shelter Medicine at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She has extensive experience working in an animal shelter and clinic and has examined hundreds of dogs and cats who were victims of animal maltreatment. She is the co-author of an article on the need for veterinary forensics, co-edited two textbooks on shelter medicine that address veterinary forensics and animal cruelty, and lectures frequently on the role of the veterinarian in handling animal abuse.
Jane N. Nathanson, LCSW, LRC, CRC, is a social work and rehabilitation consultant in private practice, specializing in human-animal health and welfare and the development of supportive living services for elders, persons with disabilities, and their families. Her work has included the design and implementation of client counseling and professional training programs for animal hoarding crisis intervention and case management.
Emily Patterson-Kane, Ph.D., is a behavioral psychologist and animal welfare scientist. As a researcher she contributed to the literature on animal motivation and humane husbandry. She is now an advocate for mutually beneficial human-animal interactions and for the role of science in assessing and addressing social issues.
Sandra R. Sylvester, J.D., is a career prosecutor with the Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney in Prince William County, Virginia. She has prosecuted child abuse cases for twenty five years and animal cruelty cases for over fifteen years. She is the legal advisor for the Virginia Police Canine Association and a certified dog trainer.
Philip Tedeschi, M.S.W, is Executive Director of the Institute for Human-Animal Connection at the University of Denver, where he is Clinical Professor within the Graduate School of Social Work. He is recognized for expertise in the clinical methods for Animal Assisted Interventions and coordinates the school's Animal-Assisted Social Work Certificate program for Master of Social Work (MSW) students, as well as the Animals and Human Health global professional development certificate program. His research, scholarship, presentations, training and community practice work have focused on the bio-affiliative connection between human and animals, human and animal health and welfare, environmental social work and forensic social work practice.
Alexander G. von Fricken, Esq., is an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney in Prince William County, Virginia. He has had the opportunity to prosecute a wide range of misdemeanor and felony cases to completion, including those involving animal cruelty. He has lectured for the Virginia Police Canine Association on issues of search and seizure and has written for the National District Attorneys Association on the issue of animal cruelty.
Kenneth J. Weiss, M.D., is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Specializing in forensic psychiatry, he is Associate Director of the Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program and is a member of the Philadelphia Hoarding Task Force.
