What is FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY and what is it for?

The behaviors and motivations that may lead a person to commit a crime may be conditioned by their mental state and in the face of We must therefore ask ourselves: would it be fair to judge a person who is not in their full mental faculties, in the same way as another who Yes? And faced with this, we must ask ourselves, are lawyers, judges or prosecutors, among others, trained to be able to determine the mental state of a person? Faced with these questions, forensic, legal and criminal psychology was born. If you are interested in know forensic psychology and what it is for, keep reading this Psychology-Online article.

Index

1. What is forensic psychology?
2. What is forensic psychology for?
3. What is a forensic psychologist
4. Criminal psychology

Definition of forensic psychology

Forensic psychology is the branch of legal psychology that has the objective of applying their knowledge in the face of expert evidence. Faced with this, the

If you are interested in knowing other areas of psychology, in this article you will find the branches of psychology and their definitions.

Juridic psychology

Legal psychology is a specialty within psychology, which aims to apply psychological techniques and knowledge about the behavior of people in the legal field. Therefore, it establishes a relationship between Law and Psychology. Therefore, it focuses on the study, promotion, explanation, advice and prevention of aspects to psychological, behavioral and relational level that interfere in the behavior on legal aspects of the people. The functions exercised by a legal psychologist are the following:

1. Evaluation and diagnosis: This function focuses on establishing an assessment regarding the psychological conditions that may have influenced a behavior.
2. Advice: The representatives of this specialization must advise the judicial bodies in reference to the issues of their specialty.
3. Intervention: Programs and designs must be carried out with the objective of establishing prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and inclusion or integration of the person. With the aim of discriminating whether their integration in the community or in a penitentiary is more appropriate. Here you will find one psychosocial intervention in a prison.
4. Training and education: Another possible application of this specialty is to train professionals in the legal field, such as judges, policemen, lawyers, in psychological techniques applicable to their field.
5. Carrying out campaigns on prevention social in the face of crime and the media.
6. Investigation.
7. Victimology: help improve the victim's circumstances and her contact with the legal system.
8. Mediation: establish solutions through negotiations against legal conflicts, with the aim of reducing the emotional and social impact and add a legal alternative, in which those involved have a role principal.

What Forensic Psychology Studies

This field within psychology seeks point out the person's mental state at the specific time of the crime, and not its current operation. The forensic psychologist works in retrospect to a certain extent and then has the need to turn to third parties to offer information, collateral persons, written or verbal communications, possible statements,... to collect the necessary information that you help to determine if there was any alteration in the functioning of the person at the time of the crime.

Goals of forensic psychology

Forensic psychology has the purpose of highlighting the mental state of the person at the moment the crime and the way in which this mental state may have influenced the person's behavior, in order to provide relevant information in the judicial process and with this, give advice to the lawyers, judges, prosecutors,... involved in the trial, in relation to the psychological aspects.

A forensic psychologist is a professional psychologist with a specialization in forensic psychology (typically, through a master's degree in forensic psychology and professional experience), which is dedicated to judicial processes.

What does a forensic psychologist do

The role of the forensic psychologist changes depending on the type of forensic psychology. We come across two different types of forensic psychology: clinical and experimental forensic psychology.

Clinical forensic psychology

This type of forensic psychology serves to assess the damage caused to the victims and establish responsibility for the events to the accused, taking into account the assessment of the mental state of the person and consequently, the responsibility of him. The psychological dimensions that are evaluated in this typology are the area of ​​personality, the evaluation and the treatment of pathologies. The functions of the forensic psychologist in this field of application can be:

1. Medical-forensic clinics: the role of the psychologist focuses on collaborating in the evaluation of victims and / or aggressors, such as It can be in cases of sexual abuse, traffic accidents, mistreatment, mental disorder, bullying, addictions, ...
2. Family Courts: generally, the psychologist's position is based on informing the judge about family circumstances, normally in divorce proceedings, in order to establish custody of children and in protection processes for minors.
3. Juvenile courts: normally, together with the figure of the worker or social educator, it consists of the preparation of reports containing the evaluation of aspects of personality and educational, family, relational,... conditions of the minor and recommend the most possible measures adequate.
4. Prison surveillance courts: an evaluation of the prisoners is established to assess exit permits, the possibility of probation, the length of the sentence, possible flight risks,... and everything is detailed in a report.
5. Victim assistance: together with lawyers and social workers and educators, the psychologist gives advice to the victims.

Experimental forensic psychology

As we have previously pointed out, professionals in this field must work retrospectively and in the face of this, they must attend to the evaluation of witness evidence, statements and identifications. In order to establish the validation of these tests, the processes of attention, perception and memory of the person are taken into account. The functions of the forensic psychologist in this field of application can be:

• Participation in the different procedures before taking the statement, in cases that require special attention.
• Advice on the possible accuracy of the statements given by the witnesses to the courts.
• Collaboration in identification rounds.
• Assessment of the credibility of the witnesses in the statements.

Given this, two roles of the forensic psychologist can be seen in this field of application: the first function is established around the expert witness testimony and the second, offer advice to the legal body to ensure a correct evaluation of the evidence.

Once forensic psychology is understood, we must know another application of legal psychology: criminal psychology. It is important to know their applications, to understand their differences and not to confuse them.

In this article, you will find more information about the role of the psychologist in the legal field.

Criminal psychology is a discipline of psychology aimed at understanding, studying and explaining what they are. the motivations and origin of the illegal conduct, as well as the personality of the person who has committed the crime, since it is understood that the criminal act has been committed in a context that must be taken into account. Besides that, seeks to prevent and control criminal behavior, as well as increasing the rehabilitation and reintegration of the accused person. The fields of application of this discipline can be the following:

1. Criminal analysis: in this area of ​​application, criminal psychology seeks to observe and study the behavior of the person in different areas of his life.
2. Police investigation: in this area the psychologist seeks to establish negotiations with the criminal, in addition to working on psychological content such as evidence or events.
3. Profiling: the psychologist in this area of ​​intervention tries to place himself in the mind of the criminal. This technique allows to recognize the main characteristics of the offender's personality, through an analysis of his crime, his behavior and / or the scene of the crime committed. For example, it would be studied whether the crime was a premeditated act or the consequence of an impulsive act. In this article you will find more information about the psychological profile of a criminal.
4. InterviewsAnother area of ​​application is conducting interviews with both victims and criminals, with the aim of obtaining relevant information about the events.
5. Prevention: this area seeks to understand the biopsychosocial factors that may be related to the appearance of criminal acts, with the aim of reducing crime levels, based on programs of prevention.
6. Action on the effects and consequences of the victim on a psychological level. In addition to the individual effects on the victim, the effects at the collective level within society are studied.

Criminal and forensic psychology: difference

In summary, criminal psychology seeks to understand the why of the behaviors, the origin of these, the personality of the person and their motivations, while that forensic psychology exercises on formal aspects, seeking to establish legal conclusions on which psychological implications are found.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to What is forensic psychology and what is it for?, we recommend that you enter our category of Legal psychology.

• Albiñana, J. (2014). Criminal Psychology. CRIMINA (center for the study and prevention of delinquency): criminal psychology.
• Echeburúa Odriozola, E., Muñoz, J. M., & Loinaz, I. (2011). Forensic psychological evaluation versus clinical evaluation: proposals and challenges for the future.
• Manzanero, A. (2009). Forensic Psychology: definition and techniques. Theory and practice of criminal investigation, 313-339.
• Manzanero, A. L., & González, J. L. (2013). Advances in the psychology of testimony. Santiago de Chile: Legal Editions of Santiago.
• Morales Quintero, L. A., & García López, E. (2010). Legal Psychology: work and development. Diversitas: perspectives in psychology, 6(2).
• Soria Verde, M. (2005). Manual of legal psychology and criminal investigation. Madrid: Pyramid Editions.