Aimee C Kaempf
- Associate Clinical Professor, Psychiatry - (Clinical Series Track)
Contact
- (520) 626-7352
- AHSC, Rm. 70PC
- akaempf@arizona.edu
Awards
- Editorial Board appointment
- Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Fall 2022
- Red Apple Award
- American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Fall 2019
- American College of Psychiatrists
- American College of Psychiatrists, Spring 2016
- Tucson's 40 Under 40 Honoree
- Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, The Arizona Daily Star, Fall 2015
Interests
No activities entered.
Courses
No activities entered.
Scholarly Contributions
Chapters
- Kaempf, A. (2022). Reproductive Psychiatry. In Malpractice and Liability in Psychiatry.
Journals/Publications
- Hatters Friedman, S., Landess, J., Ross, N., & Kaempf, A. (2022). Evolving Abortion Law and Forensic Psychiatry. The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 50(4), 494-501.
- Friedman, S. H., Kaempf, A., & Kauffman, S. (2020). The Realities of Pregnancy and Mothering While Incarcerated. The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 48(3), 365-375.More infoWomen of reproductive age may experience pregnancy and mothering in a correctional environment designed for men. Rates of incarceration for women in the United States are high by international standards, and they continue to rise. Mothers were often single mothers prior to incarceration, and they are often separated from their children for the first time upon entering prison. Pregnancy, delivery, lactation, and parenting each require special consideration. Outcomes of pregnancy in prison are better overall than for similarly disadvantaged women in the community. Breastfeeding, despite being recommended by medical groups, is problematic for most who are awaiting forced separation from their infant, due to a lack of mother-baby units in most U.S. states. Mother-baby units have crucial goals, including improved family relations and decreased recidivism. They should not discriminate against mothers with treated perinatal mental illness. Many barriers for visitation of incarcerated mothers exist, including that, because there are fewer women's prisons, there are greater distances between mothers and children. This article reviews data about pregnancy and motherhood in corrections, and it discusses the international state of mother-baby units, with implications for U.S. corrections.
- Friedman, S. H., Tamburello, A. C., Kaempf, A., & Hall, R. C. (2019). Prescribing for Women in Corrections. The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 47(4), 476-485.More infoPrescribing for women in jails and prisons requires special consideration and should be informed by extant evidence. Incarcerated women have higher rates of mental illness than both females in the community and incarcerated men. Medication administration concerns that may disproportionately affect female prisoners include drug-drug interactions with contraceptives, intermittent dosing schedules, and concerns about metabolic side effects. Further, pregnancy, lactation, and menopause may all affect medication choices. Incarcerated women frequently have comorbid mental illness, substance use disorders, and personality disorders. Finally, specific disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, are more common in this population and merit special consideration for recognition and treatment.
- Kaempf, A. (2018). Gender Issues in Corrections. American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Newsletter.
- Kaempf, A. (2017). Transgendered Patients and the Law: An Update by the Gender Issues Committee. American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Newsletter.
- Kaempf, A. (2016). Myths and realities of women in prison. American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Newsletter.
- Kaempf, A. C., Baxter, P., Packer, I. K., & Pinals, D. A. (2015). Gender and the experience of mental health expert witness testimony. The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 43(1), 52-9.More infoMental health expert witness testimony involves complex tasks, and the capacity to perform under pressure is a fundamental skill of a forensic professional. In this context, it is important to understand the nuances of the provision of expert witness testimony. There have been several efforts to examine gender bias across legal and medical systems. Despite these reviews, little is known about how men and women differ or are similar with regard to performing expert witness functions. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine whether the testimony experiences of psychiatry and psychology experts vary by gender. Differences across certain domains, such as the sense of never experiencing anxiety and the sense of one's impact on case outcome were seen across genders. Few other gender-based differences in the experience of providing expert witness testimony were seen. Although the findings of this study raise further questions, they highlight some of the important subtleties noted in forensic practice and the work of the expert witness. In future studies, researchers should continue to explore these findings on the influence of gender and expand to consider culture and race as additional factors in the experience of expert witness testimony. As forensic professional practice evolves, it is important to understand unique aspects of forensic practice, to improve training of forensic experts, and to assist forensic experts in anticipating what they may experience related to the provision of expert testimony.
Presentations
- Kaempf, A. (2022, June). Termination of Pregnancy, Ethics, and Decisional Capacity. American Psychiatric Association (virtual).
- Kaempf, A. (2022, June). Termination of Pregnancy, Ethics, and Decisional Capacity. Case Western University grand roundsCase Western.
- Kaempf, A. (2022, October). Let’s talk about sex (and gender) in the courtroom. annual meeting of American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. New Orleans: AAPL.
- Kaempf, A. (2022, October). What forensic psychiatrists ought to know about changing abortion law. annual meeting American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. New Orleans: AAPL.
- Kaempf, A. (2018, October). Victims and Perpetrators of Sexual Assault and Interpersonal Violence. American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.
- Kaempf, A. (2017, October). Gender Issues in Correctional Settings. American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.
- Kaempf, A. (2017, October). Truth to Power: Committee Chairs and the Presidential Theme. American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.