Slipping the Surly Bonds of the Medical/Rehabilitation Model In Expert Witness Testimony

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Patricia A. Murphy

Keywords

expert witness, sexual assault, medical model

Abstract

This essay asserts that the new academic discipline of disability studies challenges the medical/rehabilitation models of disability and that this challenge has an impact on expert witness testimony.  This assertion is based on the author’s experience in a civil sexual assault trial involving a male resident of a group home facility assaulted by another male resident of the group home.  The author was surprised to find that her status as a visiting professor in the new academic discipline of disability studies trumped the testimony of the clinical expert witnesses, including a licensed psychologist, a behavioral specialist, and a case manager.
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