Psychology and the law: an uneasy Alliance

what is the best way to define forensic psychology?

interaction between clinical psychology and the criminal justice system

Psychologist

-allows for some subjectivity

-analytic speaking style is encouraged

-many possibilities/explanations (not trained to give a right answer)

Lawyers

trained to be objective (has to be more black and white)

-”just the facts approach”

-direct questions and direct answers

low inter-rater reliability

extent to which 2 informed experts with the same evidence will come to the same decision

psychology as a "nonmothetic" science

derive over conclusions based on comparisons from relatively small samples, can’t rely on things we see in a lab ex. why we do small samples

The Daubert Standard

is a rule of evidence used by trial judges to determine whether an expert witness's testimony is reliable and relevant enough to be presented to a jury

-established by the 1993 Supreme Court case, Daubert vs. Merell Dow pharmaceuticals, the standard replaced the frye standard and designated the trial judge as “gatekeeper” to keep unreliable or pseudoscientific evidence out of the courtroom

determinism definition

the view that criminal and human behavior is not the result of free will, but is instead caused by preceding factors such as genetics, brain biology, mental health issues, or environmental and social conditions

west Memphis 3

A group of three teenagers wrongfully convicted of murder in Arkansas in 1994, whose case sparked significant media attention and discussions about wrongful convictions and the justice system.

-wouldn’t have happened if Dauber’s standard was set into place, their trial highlighted flaws in evidence and expert testimony evaluations.

free will

=personal choice ex. premeditated crimes

determinism

driven by a certain choice

free will vs. determinism

debated for hundreds of years