Forensic psychology

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What is forensic psychology

the branch of psychology which is concerned with the collection, examination, and presentation of evidence for judicial purposes

What is the order of the breadth of legal/forensic psychology

1. development/nature of offending behaviour

2. police investigation

3. psychology in/of the courtroom

4. treatment/management of people who have committed crime

5. prison psychology

What is crime

a crime is an act of commission, possession, omission

What acts are necessary to be deemed a criminal

• actus reus - the guilty act

• mens rea - the guilty mind

What are the two main types of offender profilers

• clinical: clinical judgement based on experience and a psychological theory (e.g. personality theory)

• structured/statistical: draws on established psychological theory or method of analysis to draw conclusions (e.g. multi-dimensional scaling)

Why is evidence of witnesses and victims important

as it is a collection of information relating to crime

What are the types of questions used in interviews/eye witness testimony

• Leading questions = bad (was the offender wearing a blue coat?)

• Complex or compound questions = bad (was the offender wearing a coat; was it blue?)

• Open questions = good (what colour coat was the offender wearing?)

• Closed questions = depends on the situation (was the offender wearing a blue or red coat?)

Types of false confessions

• coerced-complaint

• coerced-internalised

How do juries make decisions

• applications of social psychological theory about group processes, group-decision making

• juror’s opinions about guilt might change over the course of jury deliberation

What is the impact of juror bias on decisions

• psychological theories of prejudice, stereotypes

• are male and female defendants perceived in different ways

Why is it important to work with people who have committed crimes

if we know why/how people offend, we know what we need to target through prevention and/or intervention programs

What do psychologists do with those who have committed crimes

• assessment

• interventions

What happens in assessments

• Assessing risk

  • If can estimate the risk of something happening, can inform management/treatment

  • If high risk of reoffending, then more intervention and/or higher security

• Assessment/identify treatment needs

  • Criminogenic needs – those factors related to their offending (e.g. drug/alcohol problems, impulsivity, pro-criminal attitudes)

  • Address criminogenic needs to reduce re-offending

What happens during treatment (interventions)

• Interventions are based on:

  • Psychological theories about why people offend treatment targets

  • Psychological techniques of behaviour change

  • Evaluations of previous interventions (i.e. evidence-based practice)