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Fields of forensic psychology
Fields of forensic psychology
Fields of forensic psychology
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With all the chatter about crime shows and movies, Forensic Psychology has become a growing career for many interested scholars. To many, it seems exciting, fun, and a field that most of us would like to try. But, what exactly is forensic psychology? If you look up the definition, as explained by Kitaeff (2011), it will state that it is “the application of scientific and professional psychology to questions and issues relating to the law and the legal system” (p. 350). So how far back does Forensic Psychology date back? History states that it goes back as far as 1879, where in a laboratory in Leipzig Germany, a German psychologist, Wilhelm Wundt made his debut. Wundt was famous for crossing the science of psychology with biology. (Cherry, …show more content…
It is used for child custody cases, investigations leading to solving a case with the use of profiling, predictability, human behavior, to winning a court case with the knowledge of an expert witness, known as a Forensic Psychologist. Many cases have been brought to test in front of a jury, and have been proven that Forensic Psychology is an asset to solving and convicting criminal cases.
According to Kitaeff, (2011), there are three graduate training programs that offer doctoral degrees in forensic psychologist. These programs are Alliant International University in California, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and the Nova Southeastern University. (p. 12). Many of these top scholars have dedicated many years of study to attained them the status of an accredited consulting expert in Psychology and an expert witness on the stand.
The role of a Forensic Psychologist takes many different paths. A Forensic Psychologist continues to keep abreast on the current and ever changing studies of the field. Secondly, a Forensic Psychologist is an expert witness on the stand. They have been accepted as such due to their years of expertise in the field. They are also used as Expert Therapists by conducting assessments on defendants to evaluate their ability to stand trial, and if they are
Costanzo, M., & Krauss, D. (2012). Forensic and legal psychology: Psychological science applied to law. New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Costanzo, M., & Krauss, D. (2012). Forensic and Legal Psychology: Psychological Science Applied to Law. New York: Worth Publishers.
Forensic Psychology is a specialized practice by psychologists in areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, and neuropsychology. You will be engaged regularly as an expert and primarily proposed to offer professional psychological expertise to the judicial system.
A forensic evaluation is a comprehensive and elaborate process that incorporates collection, analysis, and integration of information form multiple sources. Child welfare related evaluations are one of the most complex types of forensic evaluations requiring expert opinion and recommendations on matters pertaining to child custody and visitation, parental fitness and termination of parental rights, and evaluation of adoptive and foster parents. The primary purpose of these evaluations is to inform the court and facilitate decision-making process in child welfare cases. During a child custody evaluation the main doctrine to uphold is the “best interest of the child.” The safety of the child is of paramount consideration. This along with well-being
Defense experts are required to help the defense attorneys defend and breakdown all of the doubts in the prosecutors scientific findings in criminal cases. Scientific information is integral to a criminal prosecution, and a defense attorney needs to have an expert to assist he/she in discrediting the prosecution (Giannelli, 2011).
Forensic (criminal) psychology is a job field that deals with both psychology and law. The field has experienced dramatic growth in recent years due to the role of popular movies, television programs and books popularizing the field. Often these individuals are depicted as vivid components in solving vicious crimes or timing out a criminal’s next home. While these depictions of certainly entertaining, yet these portrayals are not necessarily precise. Forensic psychologists play an instrumental role in the criminal justice system while applying psychological principles to the legal system. The crossover of the two spheres is best decided in the Encyclopedia of Psychology,
Overall, though, I believe that Stein is the closest scholar here-mentioned to have accounted for the explanation behind these controversies. The main mistake made by many modern scholars lies in the planning and the research – too much effort is spent on seeking to explain this opposition between the Proculians and the Sabinians in terms of two internally coherent law schools which differ entirely and have held controversies stemming from a specific occurrence. I have personally, as a student of the Roman law, found it difficult in reading the sources and differing theories from scholars to do just this – because, as Scarano Ussani stated, nowhere, in the mass of research that has been done, have any definitive results been reached. As afore-mentioned, I ruled out the political explanation for the purpose of answering this question, and the social explanation does not add a great deal to the debate for me. The theories supporting the social standpoint as addressed in this essay are among the worst for choosing to ignore many of the hard facts in order to make their theory fit better. This leaves only the philosophical and methodological explanations. The philosophical explanation is a reasonably sound one, although as explored above, I do believe that its significance has been largely exaggerated. There is no doubt over the fact that philosophy has played an influential role - even if you only look at Gaius’ ius gentium which contains a certain level of Stoic influence, but as mentioned above there are major differences which have been overlooked slightly in those arguments. The methodological explanation is another seemingly logical one, and the most reliable of all theorems explored in this essay, in my opinion, as it i...
Forensic evidence can provide just outcomes in criminal matters. However, it is not yet an exact science as it can be flawed. It can be misrepresented through the reliability of the evidence, through nonstandard guidelines, and through public perception. Forensic science can be dangerously faulty without focus on the ‘science’ aspect. It can at times be just matching patterns based on an individual’s interpretations. This can lead to a miscarriage of justice and forever alter a person’s life due to a perceived “grey area” (Merritt C, 2010) resulting in a loss of confidence in the reliability of forensic evidence.
The professional role of a forensic psychologist I am interested in is working as a prison psychologist. The reason it interests me is because prison psychologists are a big part in the function of today’s society. The prison psychologist play an important role in the rehabilitation with those who we would call the common criminal as well as working with criminals who are clinically insane. There are many roles that the prison psychologists do in the prison system such as treating all different criminals from murderers, sex offenders, violent offender and even those who have committed white collar crimes. The prison psychologist tend to work in many different types of facilities from maximum prisons, minimum security prisons, and mental health facilities that hold
In recent years, however, such programs as CSI that follows detectives at the Las Vegas Police Department Crime Scene Investigations Bureau as they solve puzzles and catch criminals. Perhaps one of the most well known shows with a forensic psychology theme, CSI has a large impact on viewers perceptions of forensic psychology. On one hand, the increased popularity of forensic psychology because of the show is good and more people are taking an interest in forensic psychology as a career. On the other hand, the forensic psychology that viewers see every week on television may not be exactly the same as forensic psychology in reality. Particularly programs such as CSI also overstate the ability of “hard” evidence (also known as forensic evidence), such as fingerprints and DNA, to provide evidence of definite innocence or guilt (Trask, 2007). They often disregard other components of the investigative process, such as police questioning, despite these being equally valid to establishing guilt (Nolan, 2006). This over-reliance on forensic evidence, due to the importance of forensic science being dramatized by television crime dramas, is also known as the CSI
A forensic scientist analyzes different types of evidence from scenes or incidents, writes reports, and testifies in court as an expert witness. Being a forensic scientist is a very detailed oriented profession and they usually work some sort of a lab setting. Occasionally they may visit crime scenes or numerous accidents to help revamp the crime, gather evidence, or preserve data, but this is a very small part of their duties and is usually saved for a crime scene examiner. Forensic scientist may work for the federal or local government, forensic labs, police departments, hospitals, universities or as an independent forensic science consultant. Some specialist in Forensics Sciences are; Forensic Scientist, Forensic Pathologist, Forensic Anthropologist, Forensic Entomologist,
In an article titled, What is Forensic Psychology, Anyway?, John Brigham attempts to explain the beginnings of psychology and law; Forensics Psychology. Brigham explains that, “forensic psychology involves the interaction of psychology and the legal process” (Brigham 274). Brigham further highlights a historical case and the precedent established by the House of Lords through the induction of the McNaughten Rule, which translates, “To establish a defense on the ground of insanity it must be clearly proved that, at the time of committing the act, the party accused was laboring under such defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know nature and quality of the act he was doing, or he did know it, that he did not know he was doing what was wrong” (Finkel, 1988, p21; Brigham p275). Brigham explains that the concept of introducing psychology into the field of law ...
There can be days where they work in courtrooms as expert witnesses after they have met the criminal and gone through the evidence, or they could be acting as a profiler spending days going through case files trying to make connections. Criminal psychologists generally work in a kind of process. This process begins with going through their case files, then they attempt to understand the mind of the criminal by looking at and analyzing their actions. Next, they can go into the field and gather evidence and information that can benefit their case file. Then, they will spend countless hours examining their research and evidence and finalizing their reports.
In order to pursue my dream as a Forensic Psychologists I am aware that I have to put in a lot of effort and determination in to school. There are various aspects to pursuing my career such as getting good grades, volunteering in police departments, networking, and doing an immense amount of research on my field. The career I chose requires a lot of my time not only as a student but as an adult. What I mean by this is that from now on, my time is devoted in to acquiring skills and changing my persona in order to be better qualified for the my job. Throughout this road map I will talk about what is a Forensic Psychologist, what are the requirements, skills necessary, what I could do with this degree, the personality types that are best suited for this job, and what are the prospects of moving up.
As far back as 1832, James Marsh was the first to use forensics at trial to give evidence as a chemist in 1832. Since that time forensic science and evidence has come a long way in various ways and technology to help in determine if the suspect is guilt or not, through such things as DNA testing, blood, and fingerprints. The first forensic police crime lab was created in 1910. The contributions of Dr. Edmond Locard, a French scientist and criminologist, proposed that “everything leaves a trace”. This principle is still valid today as it was so many years ago. No matter how small, the specialized trained technicians and investigators can take these methods and go to a crime scene to get evidence. “Forensic science is the application of sciences such as physics, chemistry, biology, computer science and engineering to matters of law.” (Office of Justice, 2017) These different sciences can help achieve and assist in solving a case. Forensic science has also the ability to prove that a crime was committed, it can find the elements of the crime, it can help place the suspect at the scene and whether the suspect had any contact with the victim. However, in the last several years the techniques and with the use of technology the evidence that forensic science uncovers can also exonerate an innocent individual who has been falsely accused of the