History of forensic psychology

Media Portrayals and Stereotypes of Mental Illness in Crime Dramas

• Research on Media Impact: Research by Wall and Lefkowitz ($1989$) indicates that negative stereotypes found in the media often foster negative public attitudes toward individuals living with mental illness. Crime dramas like Law and Order and NCIS are specifically noted for their potential impact on viewer perceptions.

• Long-Term Trends in Portrayal: Numerous studies have tracked the representation of mental illness in television:

  • Signorelli ($1989$) examined data from $1969$ to $1985$, finding that mentally ill characters were disproportionately likely to either commit or be victims of violence.
  • Dieffenbach ($1997$) and Dieffenbach and West ($2007$) looked at shows from $1994$ and $2003$, respectively. They found these characters were portrayed as significantly more violent than those without mental illness and were far more violent than equivalent real-world populations.

• Recent Analysis: Parrot and Parrot ($2015$) analyzed dramas from $2010$ through $2015$. Their findings suggest that while these characters are still frequently associated with crime and violence, there has been a reduction in outdated physical tropes such as straightjackets, wild hair, or exaggerated mannerisms ($page\,652$).

• Cognitive Cultivation: Perpetual exposure to inaccurate media stereotypes may cultivate new biases or reinforce existing ones regarding the lived experience of mental illness, potentially influencing how viewers perceive topics throughout forensic psychology.

Defining Forensic Psychology and Addressing Professional Myths

• The Hollywood Image vs. Reality: The text uses a case study of a student inspired by shows like Criminal Minds to illustrate common misconceptions. While TV focuses on high-drama tasks like profiling serial arsonists or rapists, actual forensic psychology involves a rigorous understanding of the legal system and human behavior.

• Core Objectives: Forensic psychologists aim to understand the underlying mechanisms of thoughts, feelings, and actions. However, unlike general psychologists, they function specifically within a legal context and work with unique populations like offenders, police officers, judges, and jurors.

• Goal of Study: The primary objective is to develop a critical perspective on media portrayals and understand the actual challenges, history, and applications of the field.

Early Experimental Research on Testimony and Suggestibility

• The Origins of the Field: Forensic psychology has its roots in the late $19^{th}$ century, though researchers of that era did not yet use the specific term "forensic psychologist."

• James Cattell and Eyewitness Accuracy: Conducting research at Columbia University after studying with Wilhelm Wundt, Cattell investigated the accuracy of recollection. In a study of $56$ psychology students, he found that participants were often inaccurate in recalling everyday details (such as weather) and that there was a poor correlation between a witness's confidence in a memory and the actual accuracy of that memory.

• Alfred Binet and Suggestibility: Binet's research in France focused on how children respond to different questioning styles. Using a study involving a button on a poster board, he demonstrated that direct or misleading questions significantly corrupted children's testimony, whereas asking for an open report yielded the most accurate results.

• William Stern and the Reality Experiment: Working with criminologist Franz von Liszt in $1901$, Stern developed the "reality experiment" paradigm. In one study, he staged a dispute in a law class that escalated to the drawing of a revolver. He observed that emotional arousal negatively impacts memory accuracy, particularly for the most intense portions of an event.

Historical Court Cases and Expert Testimony in Europe

• Albert von Schrenck-Notzing ($1896$): A German physician who testified on the effects of pretrial publicity. He argued that extensive media coverage led to retroactive memory falsification, where witnesses confuse their actual memories with the details provided by press reports.

• Julian Varendonck ($1911$): In a Belgian murder case, Varendonck conducted experiments to show that children are highly prone to suggestion. He proved that he could lead children to describe someone who didn't exist, which helped establish that testimony from children in the case was likely unreliable.

Advocacy and Legal Resistance in North America

• Hugo Münsterberg: A student of Wilhelm Wundt who joined Harvard in $1892$. He was a vocal advocate for applying psychology to the law:

  • The Richard Ivins Case ($1906$): Münsterberg argued that a confession given by a man with an intellectual disability was false, though the court ignored this, and the man was executed.
  • The Harry Orchard Case ($1907$): Münsterberg used truth-testing methods to validate a confession, but again, the findings were largely dismissed by the court.

• Professional Backlash: The legal community, particularly Professor John Henry Wigmore, heavily criticized Münsterberg. Wigmore published a satirical "trial" of Münsterberg on April Fool's Day, accusing him of overclaiming the readiness of psychology for the courtroom and lacking sufficient research.

• Clinical Advancement: Despite early resistance, the field grew through the opening of youth offender clinics ($1909$), pretrial assessment labs ($1916$), and the use of psychological testing for law enforcement selection beginning in $1917$.

Theories of Crime: Biological, Sociological, and Psychological

• Biological Theories:

  • Sheldon’s Constitutional Theory ($1949$): Proposed crime is linked to somatotypes. Endomorphs are jolly, ectomorphs are introverted, and muscular mesomorphs are most likely to be aggressive and criminal.
  • Chromosomal Theory (Jacobs et al., $1965$): Hypothesized that men with an extra Y chromosome (XYY) were more aggressive and prone to violent crime.
  • MAOA Gene Theory (Caspi et al., $2002$): Found that individuals with low MAOA activity who were maltreated as children were more likely to display adult antisocial behavior.

• Sociological Theories:

  • Strain Theory (Merton, $1938$): Crime results from the strain felt when lower-class individuals have limited legitimate access to success and status.
  • Differential Association Theory (Sutherland, $1939$): Criminal behavior is learned through social interactions where favorable values toward law-breaking outweigh unfavorable ones.
  • Labeling Theory (Becker, $1963$): Deviance is a label applied by society; this label creates a self-fulfilling prophecy leading to further crime.

• Psychological Theories:

  • Social Learning Theory (Akers, $1973$): Crime is learned through role models, justifications, and the balance of rewards versus punishments.
  • General Theory of Crime (Gottfredson and Hirschi, $1990$): Low self-control established early in life, combined with opportunity, explains criminal propensity.
  • Personal, Interpersonal, and Community Reinforcement (Andrews and Bonta, $2003$): Crime is a complex interaction of self-regulation deficits, antisocial peers, and sociocultural factors.

Landmark Legal Milestones in the United States

• State v. Driver ($1921$): The first case where a U.S. court accepted psychological testimony on young offenders, though it rejected the psychologist's specific conclusions about the victim's credibility.
• People v. Hawthorne ($1940$): Allowed a psychologist to give an opinion on a defendant's mental state.
• Jenkins v. United States ($1962$): A pivotal case where the court ruled that psychologists are qualified to provide expert testimony regarding mental illness, overcoming earlier requirements that only physicians could testify on such matters.

Development and Key Figures in Canadian Forensic Psychology

• Canadian Contributions: While U.S. law influenced Canadian recognition, Canada has excelled particularly in the correctional field, specifically in risk assessment and treatment.

• Doctor Ralph Serin Profile:

  • Spent $27$ years with the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) before moving to Carleton University in $2003$.
  • Founder of the Criminal Justice Decision Making Laboratory.
  • His research led to a standardized framework for parole decision making that is now mandatory policy in Canada and used internationally.
  • Posthumously honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award in $2023$ for his advocacy of evidence-based practice.

Professional Recognition and Status of the Discipline

• The Marks of an Established Field:
  • Textbooks: A proliferation of high-quality resources, particularly in North America.
  • Journals: Numerous dedicated academic publications for forensic research.
  • Associations: The founding of the American Psychology-Law Society ($1968$ to $1969$) and the Criminal Justice Section of the CPA ($1985$).
  • Training: Expansion of both undergraduate and graduate specialized programs.
  • Official Certification: The APA formally recognized forensic psychology as a specialty in $2001$, with recertification in $2008$.