About Michael
Dr Michael Schirripa was born to an Anglo-Italian family in Adelaide, South Australia. From a young age, he developed a passion for writing and stories, which he continued to pursue throughout his life. His first book was a biography of his Nonno, which he gave as a gift on his 90th birthday. This experience further ignited his love for writing.
Michael was an avid reader during childhood. He often read books beyond his years and even stole his sister’s Stephen King novels to quench his thirst for great literature. Apart from his love for writing and reading, he has always been a runner. In 2023, he completed his first marathon, a significant achievement.
Michael and his wife Lauren love food, wine and enjoy cooking together in their free time. He has a wide range of interests in literature, including Stephen King, Michael Crichton, Robin Cook, Michael Robotham, James Patterson, Alex Michaelides, David Sedaris, Ian McEwan, and Jane Harper.
Mindhunt is Michael’s first thriller novel featuring Australian-born Forensic Psychiatrist Dr Jack Giorgio. He also hosts an enthralling new podcast series, Mindhunting: Journeys into Forensic Psychiatry.
When we hear the forensic word, it conjures up an image right out of CSI or Criminal Minds: it’s dark, a city street or alley, and the street lights cast down ominously on a bloodied body on the road.
FUNDAMENTALS OF FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY
Forensic is just such a loaded word that it is dripping with meaning. There are forensic psychiatrists, forensic psychologists, forensic scientists, and forensic accountants. When we hear the forensic word, it conjures up an image right out of CSI or Criminal Minds: it’s dark, a city street or alley, and the street lights cast down ominously on a bloodied body on the road. There are official-looking people in protective yellow suits swabbing things, collecting specimens, taking samples of all sorts of tissues and clothing before all loading into a white van and driving off to a lab…right?
Well, yes and no. While that is absolutely a part of the forensic world, there is much more to forensic psychiatry.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Forensic psychiatry is a subspeciality branch of psychiatry that sits at the intersection of law and mental health. Think of it as ‘psychiatry outside of the square’. It is at the interface of mental health issues and the legal system.
Forensic psychiatrists apply their expertise to legal issues, often serving as expert witnesses in court cases, offering evaluations, and providing insights into the mental state of individuals involved in legal proceedings.
Forensic psychiatrists will often assess individuals to determine their competency to stand trial and, importantly, evaluate their mental state at the time of an alleged criminal offence.
They also provide insights into a person’s decision-making capacity, such as in guardianship cases, testamentary capacities for wills and estates, and even personal injury claims.
SPECIALITIES
A forensic psychiatrist will also assess what type of damage or injury has occurred in a civil matter, such as a motor vehicle accident or in a workplace injury, when a worker may claim bullying and harassment have occurred. They may also assess people who claim psychiatric harm from earlier abuse in life or medical negligence.
They will also provide psychiatric treatment for prisoners who are on remand and sentenced and also community psychiatric follow-up for forensic patients and high-risk patients.
Forensic psychiatrists have also advised corporations, businesses, and governments on policy and educational topics, such as dealing with vexatious complainants and stalkers and forming policies around road rage incidents.
WHAT IS FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY?
A forensic psychiatrist is a fundamentally medically trained doctor who specialises in diagnosing, assessing, and treating mental illnesses. A forensic psychiatrist typically completes an additional two years of subspecialty training purely in forensic psychiatry.
For Dr Michael Schirripa, the core interest and passion was the idea of working with people who were facing enormous personal struggles. These people were facing a huge double whammy by suffering from a serious psychiatric illness but also, often at the same time, facing enormous uncertainty within a legal context.
Forensic psychiatry respects truth-telling and independence. It adheres to rigorous ethical standards in an assessment sense, as the goal is not to advocate for a particular outcome but to provide impartial insights and credible opinions based on training, clinical experience, available data, and evidence-based research.