Forensic psychology is often times associated with what people see in the TV series such as “Bones” or “Criminal Minds”. Forensic psychology, as defined by the American Psychological Association, is “the professional practice by psychologists within areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology or another specialty” (APA, 2016). Within this field, the psychologist should be engaged as an expert of this specialty, and “emphasizes the application of research and experimentation in other areas of psychology (e.g., cognitive psychology, social psychology)” to provide answers to questions and issues regarding the law to the judicial system (Ward, 2013). Also, crime prevention is an important role in the field of forensic …show more content…
Forensic social workers however, were just recently added to the team. Forensic psychiatrist are often associated with criminal courts, social workers with juvenile courts and psychologist with written forensic evaluations that include symptoms and capacities of people involved relevant to legal questions. In the case of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. ROBERT N. HICKS, Defendant. No. 3:14-CR-85, the defendant was evaluated by Forensic Psychologist Jessica Micono. Ms. Micono’s professional role was to evaluate the defendant 's competency to stand trial, as well as evaluate the defendant 's sanity at the time of the offenses. She was to determine whether the defendant had a mental disease resulting from substance abuse, and if his mental capacity diminished due to a mental disease or defect he was suffering from. Upon completing the assessments, Ms. Micono found the defendant to be suffering from schizophrenia and recommended treatment and competency restoration. The role of forensic psychologist, often times are to provide a forensic examination. For this article, the role of forensic psychologist as the expert witness will be used in regards to “ethical issues of concern for psychologists who are engaged in personality assessment in forensic settings such as for courts or attorneys” (Knapp, & VandeCreek, 2001). The forensic psychologist can either be a court-appointed evaluator or an employee of an attorney (Knapp, & VandeCreek, 2001). Since attorneys hire these psychologists, due to attorney-client privileges the attorney can pick and choose what information will be provided to the court of law. The ethical role of a forensic psychologist as an expert witness is just about the same as a regular psychologist. It involves being competent, informing consent, respecting the
He also spoke on the phone with respondent’s wife and mother. He attempted once, unsuccessfully to meet with them; however, he did not follow up a second time. Additionally, the counsel did not seek out additional character witnesses for respondent. The counsel’s conversations with his client led him to believe he did not need to request a psychiatric examination because he did not believe the respondent had psychological problems. In a state of hopelessness, the counsel decided not to present nor look for further evidence concerning respondent’s character and emotional state, because he believed it would not overcome the evidentiary effect of the respondent’s confessions to the crimes.
Justice Quarterly: JQ, 15(3), 577-581. Retrieved October 6, 2017, from https://bethelu.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.bethelu.idm.oclc.org/docview/228157991?accountid=56725 Saferstein, R. (2015). Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science (11th Ed.). Boston: Pearson. Retrieved October 6, 2017, from
A court-appointed examiner conducts a physical, psychiatric, and psychological test in order to deem whether a person is mentally ill and competent to stand trial. The third procedure is the discovery for the purpose of a court-ordered examination. If the judge orders this, "the defendant must give the court all of their mental health, medical, and any other test records." ("Criminal Procedure Rule 14: Pretrial discovery." Mass.gov, www.mass.gov/rules-of-criminal-procedure/criminal-procedure-rule-14-pretrial-discovery.).
The judge investigating Kim’s case requested a Forensic Mental Health Assessment (FMHA) be conducted (de Ruiter & Kaser-Boyd, 2015). The FMHA conducted consisted of forensic assessment instruments such as a standardized psychometric test of adult personality and psychopathology, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). Also used was the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS) and the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality (de Ruiter & Kaser-Boyd, 2015). The MMPI-2 was used in this case to assess Kim’s personality traits and psychopathology. The SIRS was conducted to assess malingering of mental disorders and related response styles.
The legal guideline aims to remind psychologists about their primary obligations as well as rational “precautions to respect the confidentiality rights of those with whom they work or consult, recognizing that confidentiality may be established by law, institutional rules, or professional or scientific relationships.” Maintaining privacy and confidentiality of the defendant facilitate their openness assisting them to recall and relate “pertinent facts and events, including his motives and actions at the time of the offense, and be able to testify in his behalf and to challenge prosecution witnesses.”
In rape cases specifically, a sexual assault forensic exam can be performed on the victim and examined by the forensic examiners to assure the rape did occur. An inclusion of psychologists would lower the bias of the jury as psychologists are educated on the trauma experienced by rape victims and do not have the same negative attitude towards rape victims as many citizens have. A study from 2007 regarding jury accuracy shows how negatively the legislation can also affect the defendant, as juries gave the wrong verdict approximately one in eight times (Tremmel,
First, are forensic evaluations that aide the courts in helping to determine if an individual is able to know, think, and feel. Second, therapeutic evaluations
Psychology graduates all have an interest in the same field of study, and a number of the witnesses to the Bulger case could have been from a similar area. Both of these studies were relatively small studies only including a small number and potentially type of person. Thus, they can only begin to start answering these questions, however they are equally adequate starting points to ask questions and receive enough evidence for larger
Compelling Evidence In today’s society, high-tech gadgets and the media have given the impression the essential necessity for forensic evidence in order to convict. Once in a while, cases like the Laci Peterson murder come along with little forensic evidence but a whole lot of circumstantial evidence and motive. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss the forensic evidence discovered that led to the conviction and death sentencing of Laci’s husband, Scott Peterson.
What are the factors which would need to be considered? The Judge plays an important role in ruling whether scientific evidence is necessary and appropriate and would decide whether the psychologist can testify about the results from DCAT . The Supreme Court case Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (1993) provides guidance on the admissibility of scientific expert testimony. The Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE) require that the Judge ensure that “an expert’s testimony both rests on a reliable foundation and is relevant to the task at hand.” FRE 702 (2012) states: “If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the
A Forensic psychologist help determine if the inmate has a mental illness by giving psychological test and evaluations. Forensic psychologist also help place and transfers inmates with a mentally illness. A Forensic psychologist also plays a key part in rehabilitation where they decided which rehabilitation to send the inmate to. Lastly, the Forensic psychologist will tell the treatment centers and or medical facilities what the mental diagnoses is, an idea of how to treat individuals, and what medication to give the
This deals with the thoughts, intentions and reactions of criminals. This also includes all that partakes in the criminal behaviour. In comparison to anthropological criminology, psychology deals with everything that makes the criminal “tick”, as opposed to the physical evidence. The questions that I formed can easily be related to the article because they are thought-provoking, and they ask about the actual intentions and thought process related to the crime. All of my questions could explain why certain things happened that was stated in the article, including why cigarettes and money was stolen, why the crime was committed at 4:00 AM, and many more.
Criminal Justice Psychologist The psychologist is a vital asset to the criminal justice system. The psychologist can examine victims, police officials and various witnesses thus making them ethically obligated to make the right decisions and evaluations. This essay will discuss the roles of psychologist as they work within the criminal justice system. I will Identify and describe the psychologists’ roles within the criminal justice system as it pertains to the applied scientist, the basic scientist, the policy evaluator, and the advocate.
To some, Arias came across as a manipulative psycho, while to others, she was a bit more understandable as a scorned and potentially abused lover. Because of these complications, the jury relied heavily on the expert testimony of two forensic psychologists to explain the facts behind the deception (Perrotti, 2012). Forensic psychology,
In all crimes, a motive is present. Motive is defined as the emotional, psychological, and material needs that impel and are satisfied by behavior (Turvey, 2011). It is the driving force of our choices and actions, therefore, when it comes to criminal investigation, establishing a motive can help solve crimes. However, some motives are not apparent during the early stages of an investigation and before court proceedings. Without a motive, it would be difficult to prove guilt since the number question needed to be answer for juries are the “whys” in crimes.