Forensic Psych Exam 1

forensic psychology

the production of psychological knowledge and its application to the civil and criminal justice systems

questioned document examination

examination of the validity of documents, such as wills or suicide notes

digital investigative analysis

forensic electronic data recovery, usually for legal purposes

american psychology law society

a division of the american psychological association that was instrumental in developing forensic psychology guidelines and remains highly involved in research, education, and practice in that area

forensic psychiatrists

medical doctors trained to provide assessment services to courts in relation to persons who may evidence emotional, cognitive, or behavioral problems

forensic social workers

social workers typically with a master’s degree, who provide services relative to legal matters, such as custody evaluations or assessments in guardianship cases

ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct

provides ethical standards and guidelines for what is appropriate behavior in clinical and research practice for psychologists

bias

a preference for or attitudes against groups, individuals, or even assessment measures that, if not acknowledged and kept in check, present ethical concerns among mental health professionals

association for psychological science

an organization of psychologists dedicated to the advancement of science in psychology. after the American psychological association, it is the next largest psychological association in the United States

police and public safety psychology

branch of psychology focusing on services provided to law enforcement personnel, including assessment, clinical treatment, and consulting on administrative matters

legal psychology

the branch of forensic psychology that is most focused on research and practice relating to the judical system

family forensic psychology

a specialty whose practitioners have extensive knowledge about human development, family dynamics, and the court system

psychology of crime and delinquency

the science of the behavioral and mental processes of the adult and juvenile offender

victimology

the psychological and criminological study of crime victimization, including but not limited to characteristics of victims, victims’ rights, and victim assistance programs

correctional psychology

the branch of forensic psychology that interacts with prisons, jails, and other correctional facilities and programs, in both institutional and community settings. correctional psychologists often prefer that term rather than forensic psychologists

crisis intervention teams

mental health professionals who are on call as needed to help law enforcement officers respond to volatile situations, such as those involving persons with serious mental illness or displaying behaviors that might lead to suicide

excessive force

refers to situations in law enforcement where the level of force exceeds the level considered justifiable under the circumstances

early warning systems

also called early intervention systems, this is a program that helps identify psychological and performance problems in law enforcement officers early and provides them with support services

preemployment psychological screening

the psychological evaluation that is conducted prior to a conditional offer of employment

fitness for duty evaluations

assessment conducted to determine the psychological ability of law enforcement officers to perform their essential job functions, particularly after experiencing a major stressful event

police culture

a set of behaviors and attitudes that are presumed to be characteristics of individuals involved in law enforcement work, such as suspicion, toughness, and protectiveness of other law enforcement officers

job analysis

identification and anlysis of the skills, abilities, knowledge, and psychological characterisitcs that are needed to do a job

screening out procedures

designed to eliminate those law enforcement applicants who demonstrate significant signs of psychopathology or emotional instability or who lack the basic ability or mental acuity to perform the job in a safe and responsible manner

screening in procedures

intended to identify those attributes (almost invariably personality) that distinguish one candidate over another as being potentially a more effective police officer

minnesota multiphasic personality inventory revised

self-administered personality inventory used in numerous contexts, including law enforcement screening

organizational stress

refers to the emotional and stressful effects that the policies and practices of the police department have on the individual officer

task related stress

stress related to the nature of the work itself. in a law enforcement context, this includes the possibility of being killed in the line of duty

critical incidents

emergencies and disasters that are non-routine and unanticipated

external stress

stress that is outside of one’s daily tasks. in the law enforcement context, they include frustrations with the courts, the prosecutor’s office, the criminal process, the correctional system, the media, and public attitudes toward policing

personal stress

stress related to marital relationships, health problems, addictions, peer group pressures, feelings of helplessness and depression, and lack of achievement

Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory revised restructured form

self-report personality inventory used in clinical practice, especially in the selection of the law enforcement and public safety personnel. although the inventory uses many questions from the MMPI-2, researchers have developed its own norms and clinical scales

post shooting traumatic reaction

represents a collection of emotions and pscyhological reponse patterns that may occur after a law enforcement officer shoots a person in the line of duty

investigative psychology

umbrella term that refers to a scientific approach designed to improve our understanding of criminal behavior and the investigative process

crime scene profiling

the development of a rough behavioral or psychological sketch of an offender based on clues identified at the crime scene. also may be refered to as offender profiling

case linkage analysis

method of identifying crimes that are likely to have been committed by the same offender because of similarities across the crimes

confirmation bias

the tendency to look for evidence that confirms one’s preexisting expectations of beliefs

geograpahical profiling

focuses on the location of the crime and how it relates to the residence or base of operations of the offenders. assumes that serial offenders prefer to commit their crimes near their own residences

geographical mapping

concerned with analyzing the spatial patterns of crimes committed by numerous offenders over a period of time

suspect based profiling

the process of collecting data on behavioral, personality, cognitive, and demographic data on previous offenders in an attempt to identify other offenders. often used to detect drug trafficking and terrorism-related criminal activity

racial profiling

illegal singling out of someone by law enforcement solely on the basis of their race or ethnicity

psychological profiling

the gathering of information on a known individual who poses a threat or is believed to be dangerous

threat assessment

concerned with predicting future violence or other undesirable actions targeted at specific individuals or institutions after an expressed threat has been communicated

risk assessment

a systematic process of evaluating the likelihood that a person will engage in dangerous behavior, even though the person has not made a direct or implied threat

psychological autopsy

primarily undertaken in an effort to make a reasonable determination of what may have been in the mind of the deceased person leading up to and at the time of death, particularly if the death appears to be a suicide

reconstructive psychological evaluation

reconstruction of the personality profile and cognitive features (especially intentions) after a person is deceased.

reconstructive theory of memory

perspective that memory is continually vulnerable to revision

estimator variable

system variable

pertain to potential sources of eyewitness error that are beyond the control of the criminal justice system

reflector variable

in eyewitness identification, the verbal and nonverbal behaviors of the witness while performing the identification tasks. examples include confidence in the identification, decision time, and verbal utterances

facial composites

computerized or artist drawings of faces from information supplied by witnesses

facial recognition technology

a rapidly developing but controversial technology used by some law enforcement agencies that seeks to identify crime perpetrators by scanning widely available public images from the internet, video cameras, and other sources

unconscious transference

occurs when a person seen in one situation is confused with a person seen in another situation

own race bias

the tendency of people to be able to discriminate between faces of their own race better than those of other races

differential experience hypothesis

states the individuals will have greater familiarity or experience with members of their own race and will thus, in identification procedures, be better able to discern differences among members of their own race

weapon focus/effect

refers to the concentration of a victim’s or witness’s attention at a threating object whole paying less attention to other details and events of a crime

cognitive interview

method of interviewing that uses memory retrieval and various communication techniques aimed at increasing the amount of accurate information from witnesses and victims. its goal is to make the interviewee aware of all events that happened in a situation

simultaenous lineup

a live or photo lineup in which a witness views individuals all at once, such as standing in a row or in a photo array

sequential lineup

a live or photo lineup in which a witness views individuals in a series. requiring the witness to decide on whether to identify one individual before moving on to another

composition bias

characteristics of a police lineup that unfairly encourages a witness to identify the suspect in custody (no lineup members approximate the suspect’s age

commitment bias

the phenomenon that once a witness commits to a certain viewpoint, such as identification of a face, the witness is less likely to change their mind

show up

identification procedure in while police present a single suspect to the eyewitness(es) to see if the persons will identify that individual as the perpetrator. typically but not always followed by a lineup procedure, where the suspect appears with foils

double blind lineup

a lineup procedure in which neither the person making an identification nor the person administering the lineup knows the identity of the suspect

reid method

the predominant method used by law enforcement in the United States to interview and interrogate criminal suspects

accusatorial approach

in police interrogation, an aggressive questioning procedure that assumes the suspect is responsible for a criminal offense and has the goal of obtaining a confession

information gathering approach

a method of police interviewing and interrogation that does not presume guilt on the part of the person being questioned, but rather seeks to obtain information about events surrounding a crime

PEACE model

a method of information gathering where the interviewer is encouraged to establish rapport and ask open-ended questions

false confessions

admissions of guilt that are not valid and are often but not necessarily induced by coercive interrogation procedures

voluntary false confessions

confessions to crimes one did not commit, offered without coercion by others such as police or family members

coerced compliant false confessions

admissions of guilt most likely to occur after prolonged and intense interrogation experiences, such as when sleep deprivation is a feature, such as when sleep deprivation to avoid further discomfort, admits to the crime even knowing that they are innocent

coerced internalized false confessions

these occur when innocent persons who are tired, confused, and highly psychologically vulnerable, come to believe that they actually committed the crime

cognitive load

during police interviewing and interrogation, this refers to the cognitive demands placed on the interviewee, with the premise that this will make it more difficult for the interviewee to be deceptive. an example would be asking the person to recount events of the past day in reverse order of when they occurred

cognitive lie detection

method of interviewing and interrogation that asks questions the suspect does not anticipate

truth default theory

a new theory that proposes humans are far better at detecting truthfulness than deceitfulness

control question techniques

the most preferred procedure by professional polygraphers in cases requiring the investigation of specific incidents, such as criminal acts

guilty knowledge test

a polygraph test that assesses the extent to which the polygraph examinee is aware of facts about a crime

forensic engineering, forensic linguistics, forensic pharmacy, forensic oceanography, forensic medicine, forensic social work

examples of forensic specialties other than forensic psychology

police and public safety psychology, legal psychology, psychology of crime and delinquency, victimology and victim services, and correctional psychology

what are the five forensic psychology areas

19th century

what century did forensic psychology start?

20th century, 1970s

what century/year did forensic psychology finally start to grow?

J. Mckeen Catell and Louis William Stern

early benchmarks (people) of psychology

J. Mckeen Cattell

conducted one of the earliest psychological experiments involving eyewitness testimony. discovered that people could be very confident about memories that were actually inaccurate

Louis William Stern

established a periodical devoted to the psychology of testimony

AI, facial-recognition technology, eyewitness identification

recent topics in science that captured the interests of contemporary forensic scientists

it is a basic foundation that provides advanced knowledge of psychology and research training

why is graduate training in psychology (doctoral level) helpful if not essential

evaluating police applicants and conducting fitness-for-duty evaluations

examples of practice/research for police and public safety

child custody evaluations and competency evaluations

examples of practice/research for legal psychology

studying and preventing violent behavior and researching psychopathy

examples of practice/research for psychology of crime and delinquency

providing psychological support to victims and witnesses

examples of practice/research for victimology and victim services

assessing inmates and providing mental health treatment

examples of practice/research for correctional psychology

soon after the offense (within hours)

how soon does the show up occur?

far more likely

how likely will a show up lead to mistaken identification compared to lineups

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

places a stronger emphasis on research and scientific training

Doctor of psychology (PsyD)

places more emphasis on professional practice and clinical work and generally has less emphasis on research than a PhD program

confidentiality, conflicts of interests, bias, and dual relationships

four ethical issues that might be faced by psychologists practicing forensic psychology

how has police and public safety psychologists changed over the past 50 years?

expanded from mainly providing counseling and psychological services to police officers to a much broader range of activities. psychologists often focused on screening police applicants and helping officers deal with stress. today they work in four major areas. conduct fitness for duty evaluations, providing counseling after shooting or other incidents

assessment, clinical intervention, operational support, and organizational consulting

four areas of police and public safety psychology

FBI, DEA, HSI, US Marshalls service, US secret service

list public law enforcement agencies operating at federal, local, and state levels

talking to people with color, mental illness, and LGBTQ+ individuals

when have police and the public been in problematic situations?

shootings, death of another officer, family problems

when has psychological assistance to individual officers been needed?

officer stress and wellness, use of force decision making, and police interactions with people experiencing mental illness

research that could be done by police and psychologists to benefit law enforcement and the public