Forensic PsychologyInformation Booklet

What is Forensic Psychology?

Forensic Psychology is a very exciting mixture of psychology and law.

There are different levels of education that involve forensic psychology

and therefore different skill requirements and roles that can be performed.

Masters and Doctorate Degrees in Forensic Psychology:

With a masters or a doctorate degree in forensic psychology one can work

in many different areas. While there are different tasks and positions based

on the level of education, there are plenty of career options for both. There

are positions in universities, police departments, mental health facilities,

court and legal systems, and others. Among other things, “much of the

work involves updating yourself on the law, critically reviewing new re-

search, meeting with scores of people and trying to integrate disparate in-

formation into a sound clinical picture” (Swenson, 2012).

ORMasters Degree Level

One would need to first complete a bachelors program of about 4 four years and then complete

a masters degree about 2-3 more years of education. The degree can be in psychology with an

emphasis on forensic psychology. With a masters degree in forensic psychology one can work

in a career of law enforcement, victim advocacy, and working with juvenile offenders. With a

masters degree one could also work a crisis line for victims of crimes (Argosy, 2012). Positions

such as probation officer can be attained with a masters degree in forensic psychology.

Doctorate Degree Level

One would need to complete a bachelors program about 4 years and then complete a masters

degree about 2-3 more years and then complete a doctorate degree adding another 2-3 years of

education. Once someone obtains a doctorate degree there are even more career opportunities

and usually more compensation. With a doctorate degree in forensic psychology one could be-

come a professor and teach at a university. A professor would be required to teach the students

and also participate in research. Also, one could work with the court system and assist with jury

selection and be an expert witness in a court case (Argosy, 2012).

MastersDegree

DoctorateDegree

There are many parts of the judicial system that forensic psychologist can

work in. In order for a forensic psychologist to be effective he/she needs to be well

versed in several areas. Some of those areas are case law, specific amendments to

the U.S. Constitution, past research in the field, diversity issues, and ethical consid-

erations.

Case Law

Case law is the decisions of past court cases from judges. Forensic psycholo-

gists need to be familiar with case law pertaining to the type of work he or she is

working in. If a forensic psychologist is working with family law and child custody,

it would be necessary to know how other cases were ruled upon and how the court

interpreted certain laws. Certain case law pertains to the roles of the forensic psy-

chologist. For example the case law of Jenkins v United States, stated that doctoral

level psychologist may offer opinions on insanity. This type of case law has a large

impact on the activities allowed by forensic psychologist. “Forensic psychology

involves an overlapping relationship between clinical practice, experimental re-

search, and the law” (Kitaeff, 2011).

Important Issues forForensic Psychology

Important Issues forForensic Psychology

Specific Amendments to the U.S. Constitution

Knowing specific amendments to the constitution is vital because it has a direct impact

on how and why the legal system works. The amendments are especially important to a forensic

psychologist when they involve the court system. Amendments five and six cover trial, punish-

ment, right to a speedy trial, and confrontation of witnesses. A forensic psychologist could

work with jury selection and it states in amendment 6 that the accused shall have an impartial

jury. A forensic psychologist needs to know about the rights of the people he/she is working

with (usconstitution.net, 2012).

Important Past Research

Forensic psychologists often rely on past research to make assessments or to reject some-

one else’s assessment. A topic that is heavily debated is if the mental health profession can pre-

dict future dangerousness. “Research over the past thirty years shows a significant degree of

inaccuracy in clinicians’ predictions of dangerousness, especially with false positives” (Kitaeff,

2011). Research of all types plays a huge role in psychology. “Research helps us understand

what makes people think, feel, and act in certain ways” (allpsych.com, 2011). Using past re-

search in forensic psychology can save time and help prove or disprove an idea or theory. Past

research with jury selection lends a tremendous help to forensic psychologist who are trying to

understand who in the jury pool will serve the client best.

Diversity Issues Diversity issues can include being able to work with diverse family situations. “It is critical that family

forensic psychologists, who work with diverse families, become aware of the emotional and legal issues that

these families face” (Grossman, Okun, n.d.). A forensic psychologist may work also with child molesters, mur-

derers, rapists, and many others that may not be pleasant to work with. It may be the duty of the forensic psy-

chologist to help get a confession from a known killer. A forensic psychologist works with the legal system and

there are all different types of people that engage in that system.

Important Issues forForensic Psychology

Ethical ConsiderationsWhenever psychology is involved there is a great amount of ethics that must always be in place. A forensic psy-

chologist needs to make sure he/she is always following the code of ethics created by the APA. Some of the

codes that are most applicable to forensic psychologist are

1. Limit services to their competence

2. Base opinions on techniques that can back up their findings

3. Obtain informed consent from the person he/she is working with

4. Consider ethical and cultural differences that could affect testing results

5. Clarify their role and the limits of confidentiality

6. Be aware of and understand the different expert opinions in the case they are working on

7. Be unbiased and forthright when expressing assessments and opinions regardless of the contractualrelationship to either side of the case

(Kitaeff, 2011).

The code of ethics is there to protect everyone involved as much as possible. A forensic psychologist needs to

be especially careful when doing interrogations. Interrogations can be a gray area for ethics because the psy-

chologist has sworn to do no harm.

Examples of How Forensic Psychologyhas Impacted the American Judicial System

Eyewitness Testimony

Over time psychological principles have been brought into the court room. A topic of great concern and re-

search is eyewitness testimony. Eyewitness testimony can be used to help the police find a suspect in a crime.

Although it has been effective in finding suspects, the specific eye witness account is often wrong. There have

been many documented cases where the eye witness has proved to be wrong. “Eyewitness testimony can be in-

accurate and susceptible to a variety of influences. It can be inaccurate because of the influence of two pro-

cesses that take place in the human mind, perception and memory” (Argosy, 2012).

Forensic psychologists have been researching the limits of a memory and/or an eye witness account. In

1974 Loftus and Palmer created a research project to test eyewitness testimony. Forty-five American students

were the subjects. The students reviewed slides of a car accident and asked to describe what happened. It was

discovered that the wording of the question changed the answer of the eyewitness. If the eyewitness was asked

about how fast the cars were going the report was faster depending on how the interviewer asked the question.

Such as how fast were the cars going when they hit/smashed/collided etc. The conclusion was the research

“suggests that memory is easily distorted by questioning technique and information acquired after the event can

merge with the original memory causing inaccurate recall or reconstructive memory” (Mcleod, 2010).

Over the years, many people have been convicted of crimes they did not commit. The introduction of

DNA testing has helped prove the wrongly accused their innocence. Psychologist will continue to study eye-

witness testimony to attempt to improve the results and prevent innocent people from going to prison (CBS,

2009).

Examples of How Forensic Psychologyhas Impacted the American Judicial System

False Confessions

One may wonder why someone would admit to a crime that he/she did not commit, but it does happen.

There have been cases where the suspect even admits to committing murder and really did not do it. Psycholo-

gists have been studying why and how the false confession comes about. It has been discovered that there are

several types of false confessions.

1. Voluntary: A person simply volunteers the confession, usually for fame

2. Coerced-Complaint: If a suspect is coerced in the interrogation room and made to feel that his/her fam-

ily will be in danger if he/she does not confess.

3. Coerced –Internalized: This type of confession happens when the person is faced with extreme anxiety,

fatigue, and pressure.

The research does show that not everyone is susceptible to false confessions. Factors that can contribute

to false confessions are: Age, IQ, and mental state. A research study from Brandon Garrett from Stanford Law

is a telling project. Garrett discovered that people will not only confess to a crime they did not commit, but can

also come up with details about how they did it. Garrett stated “scholars increasingly study the psychological

techniques that can cause people to falsely confess and have documented how such techniques were used in in-

stances of known false confessions” (Garrett, 2010).

Forensic psychologist can assist law enforcement in interrogations to obtain more accurate information.

The point is to get the real criminal off the street and not waste time and money prosecuting an innocent person.

Examples of How Forensic Psychologyhas Impacted the American Judicial System

Jury Selection

A Forensic psychologist can be hired as a jury consultant. Over the years attorneys have

turned to psychologist to help figure out what a juror will decide about the defendant. “The pri-

mary function of a jury consultant who is hired by a legal team is to provide lawyers with infor-

mation about how certain types of individuals think” (Argosy, p.3.2, 2012).

There has been much research about jury selection. In the 1970's the research was about

jury size, then in the 1980's the research was about jury characteristics, and in the 1990's it is

about jury understanding and application of judges’ directions (Argosy, 2012).

An ongoing research project pertaining to jury selection is called the Capital Jury Project.

The objective of this research project is to find out why a juror decided or did not decide on the

death penalty. According to the University of Albany:

These 3-4 hour interviews chronicle the jurors experience and decision making

over the course of the trial, identify points at which various influences come into

play, and reveal the ways in which jurors reach their final decisions.

(Albany.edu, 2012).

References:Albany.edu (2012). What is the Capital Jury Project? Retrieved from

http://www.albany.edu/scj/13189.php

Allpsych.com (2012). Psychology 101, Introduction to Psychology and Research Methods, Retrieved from

http://allpsych.com/psychology101/research_methods.html

Argosy University (2011) class lecture. Retrieved on January 24, 2012 from

http://myeclassonline.com

Finkelstein, S. (2009, July 12). 60 Minutes, New York, NY, Central Broadcasting Service

Garrett, B.L. (2010) Stanford Law Review, The Substance of False Confessions. 62,4.

Grossman, N.S., Okun, B.F., (n.d.) Society for Family Psychology, Forensics Challenges in Family Forensics

Psychology: Diverse Families. Retrieved from http://www.division43apa.org/clinpractice/tfpprac-

corner/27-tfp-practice-corner

Kitaeff, J. (2011). Forensic Psychology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Person Education, Inc.

Mcleod, S. A. (2010). Simply Psychology. Retrieved from

 http://www.simplypsychology.org/loftus-palmer.html

Swenson, D.X. (2012). Swenson’s Forensic Psychology Website, A site for topical and career information.

Retrieved from http://faculty.css.edu/dswenson/web/FORENSIC.HTM

USconstitution.net (2012). The United States Constitution, Contents, Retrieved from

http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html