Distinguished Contributions to Forensic Psychology Award

Randy K. Otto, Ph.D.

Dr. Otto received a bachelors degree in psychology from the University of Rochester, and masters and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from Florida State University. After an internship at the Medical University of South Carolina Dr. Otto completed a two-year fellowship in the College of Law and Department of Psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Dr. Otto is a licensed psychologist and is board certified in forensic psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. In addition to his primary faculty appointment in the Department of Mental Health Law & Policy at the University of South Florida, he holds adjunct faculty appointments at Stetson University College of Law, and in the Department of Psychology and the Department of Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling at the University of South Florida.

Dr. Otto's research and writing focuses on forensic psychological assessment, with a focus on competence to proceed in the criminal justice process, assessment of response style, child custody evaluation, and assessment of violence risk. Along with Norm Poythress, John Monahan, Richard Bonnie, and Ken Hoge, Dr. Otto published Adjudicative Competence, which describes the development of the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Criminal Adjudication. This work was cited by the US Supreme Court in its decision in Indiana v. Edwards (2008). In 2007 he joined colleagues Gary Melton, John Petrila, Norm Poythress, Chris Slobogin, and Phil Lyons as a contributor to the third edition of Psychological Evaluations for the Courts: A Handbook for Mental Health Professional and Lawyers. He also edited, with Kevin Douglas, the Handbook for Violence Risk Assessment.

Dr. Otto has served as President of the American Academy of Forensic Psychology, the American Psychology-Law Society, and the American Board of Forensic Psychology, and he chaired the committee that revised the Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology, which are published jointly by Division 41 of the American Psychological Association and the American Board of Forensic Psychology. Dr. Otto has served on the editorial boards of Assessment, Behavioral Sciences & the Law, Law and Human Behavior, Psychological Assessment, Criminal Justice and Behavior, Journal of Child Custody, Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Administration, and the Correctional Mental Health Report.