ABSTRACT
The mental status examination is designed to assess the present mental functioning of the identified client, the gang member. In completing the mental status examination, clinicians should keep the focus on the present. A variety of textbooks describe the content of and techniques for conducting a mental status examination. The exact style that clinicians choose to employ for conducting mental status examinations flows from their level of clinical expertise and comfort with the client. Behaviors frequently observed in mental status examinations with adolescents include foot tapping, hand wringing, face rubbing, and carphologic movements. Data obtained during a mental status examination are only a sampling of the client's behavioral repertoire, but they provide useful insights into the client's baseline of functioning. If very pronounced behavioral patterns, suggestive of underlying psychopathology, are observed during the mental status examination, these patterns are likely to recur outside the examination setting.
