Michael Albert Norko, MD, MA

Professor of Psychiatry

Research Interests

Forensic Psychiatry; Mental Health; Psychiatry; Religion; Violence; Risk Assessment; Spirituality; Harm Reduction

Research Organizations

Psychiatry: Connecticut Mental Health Center | Law and Psychiatry, Division of

Faculty Research

Office of Cooperative Research

Research Summary

Measures of individual function as indicators for treatment and management of risk of violence to others; effectiveness of gun seizure laws in reducing violence; Interplay of religion, spirituality and psychiatry and mental health care; outcomes of service delivery in provision of forensic mental health care

Specialized Terms: Psychiatric risk assessment; gun violence and mental health; forensic mental health care system delivery; religion, spirituality and psychiatry/mental health; sexual diversity and religion

Extensive Research Description

  • Development of functional assessment measurement tool
  • Research on involuntary medication of patients being treated to restore competence to stand trial
  • Editing scholarly volume on sexual diversity and the Roman Catholic Church
  • Refinement of curriculum in religion, spirituality, and worldview for psychiatry residents and other health care professionals

Selected Publications

  • A consultation and supervision model for developing the forensic psychiatric opinion

    Buchanan A, Norko MA, Baranoski M, Zonana H: A consultation and supervision model for developing the forensic psychiatric opinion. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 44:300-308, 2016

  • Legislative Consultation and the Forensic Specialist Norko MA: Legislative Consultation and the Forensic Specialist, in Griffith EEH, Norko MA, Buchanan A, Baranoski MV, Zonana HV (eds): Bearing Witness to Change in Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology Practice. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2016
  • Bearing Witness to Change in Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology Practice Griffith EEH, Norko MA, Buchanan A, Baranoski MV, Zonana HV (eds): Bearing Witness to Change in Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology Practice. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2016
  • Assessing Insanity Acquittee Recidivism in Connecticut

    Norko MA, Wasser T, Magro H, et al.: Assessing Insanity Acquittee Recidivism in Connecticut. Behavioral Sciences & the Law Published Online 2016. DOI: 10.1002/bsl.2222

  • Hospitalization Norko MA, Burns C, Dike C: Hospitalization, in Trestman RL, Appelbaum KL, Metzner JL: Oxford Textbook of Correctional Psychiatry. New York: Oxford University Press (2015), 141-145
  • The Forensic Psychiatric Report

    Norko MA, Buchanan A: The Forensic Psychiatric Report. J Psychiatric Practice 21: 67-71, 2015

  • DSM-5 and Substance Use Disorders: Clinical-Legal Implications

    Norko MA, Fitch WL: DSM-5 and Substance Use Disorders: Clinical-Legal Implications. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 42: 443-452, 2014

  • Gun Control Legislation in Connecticut: Effects on Persons with Mental Illness Norko MA, Baranoski M: Gun Control Legislation in Connecticut: Effects on Persons with Mental Illness. Connecticut Law Review 46: 1609-1631, 2014
  • More Than a Monologue – Sexual Diversity and the Catholic Church: Inquiry Thought, and Expression Hornbeck JP, Norko MA (eds): More Than a Monologue – Sexual Diversity and the Catholic Church: Inquiry Thought, and Expression. New York: Fordham University Press, 2014
  • Pursuing The Journal mission.

    Norko MA, Griffith EEH, Coleman JT: Pursuing The Journal mission. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 42: 282-289, 2014

  • Preventing Gun Violence Involving People with Serious Mental Illness Swanson JW, Robertson AG, Frisman LK, Norko MA, Lin H-J, Swartz MS, Cook PJ: Preventing Gun Violence Involving People with Serious Mental Illness, in Webster DW, Vernick JS (eds): Reducing Gun Violence in America – Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013, pp 33-51
  • The Psychiatric Report: An Agenda for Development.

    Buchanan A, Norko MA: The Psychiatric Report: An Agenda for Development. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 41: 359-373, 2013

  • Psychiatric violence risk assessment.

    Buchanan A, Binder R, Norko M, Swartz M: Resource Document on Psychiatric Violence Risk Assessment. Am J Psychiatry 169:3, March 2012, data supplement.

  • The Psychiatric Report: Principles and Practice in Forensic Writing.

    Buchanan A, Norko MA (eds.): The Psychiatric Report: Principles and Practice in Forensic Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011

  • Ethics in Forensic Psychiatry Publishing

    Kapoor R, Young JL, Coleman JT, Norko MA, Griffith EEH: Ethics in Forensic Psychiatry Publishing. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 39: 332-341, 2011

  • The Death Penalty in Catholic Teaching and Medicine: Intersections and Places for Dialogue.

    Norko MA: The Death Penalty in Catholic Teaching and Medicine: Intersections and Places for Dialogue. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 36: 470-481, 2008.

  • The Forensic Unit Norko MA, Dike CC: The Forensic Unit, in Sharfstein SS (ed): The Textbook of Hospital Psychiatry. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Press, Inc, 2008.
  • The prediction of violence; detection of dangerousness Norko MA, Baranoski MV: The prediction of violence; detection of dangerousness. Brief Treatment & Crisis Intervention 8:73-91, 2008.
  • People of the Whirlwind. Norko MA: People of the Whirlwind. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 35: 373-380, 2007.
  • Compassion at the Core of Forensic Ethics.

    Norko MA: Compassion at the Core of Forensic Ethics. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 33: 386-389, 2005.

  • The state of contemporary risk assessment research.

    Norko MA, Baranoski MV: The state of contemporary risk assessment research. Canadian J Psychiatry 50:18-26, 2005.

Full List of PubMed Publications

Edit this profile

Contact Info

Michael Albert Norko, MD, MA
Mailing Address
PsychiatryConnecticut Mental Health Center
134 Park Street
New Haven, CT 06511-