FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY: THE MISUNDERSTOOD BEAST (PART 1)

I struggled for a short time on what this editors first piece should be regarding. Before deciding what to write about I considered all of the questions I have received over the last year via my own Forensic Psychology Web Site. It seems that most of my mail had boiled down to the question of what exactly is Forensic Psychology. From that brainstorming session comes this article, of which will be a series over the next few weeks. Hopefully by the end of these write ups you will have a working knowledge of what Forensic Psychology entails and what exciting domains it can be applied to. For students and laymen alike forensics appears to be one of the most misunderstood psychological discipline. People cannot be blamed for their misconceptions. In my four year undergraduate program forensics was mentioned only once. And what was mentioned was a useless definition that really did not explain at all the intricacies of the field. The most common definition is that, "Forensic Psychology is the application of psychological knowledge to the criminal justice system." Well what does that tell us? Not much. When I read that definition I asked myself, what psychological knowledge is being applied and what exactly is the criminal justice system? The answers as I eventually found out are very diverse. The easiest way to explain the field is to break down the criminal justice system into its own sub- components and see where psychological knowledge can be applied to these areas.

The Beginning - Criminal Investigation

Forensic Psychologists can play a number of key roles in a criminal investigation. Immediately following a crime a forensic psychologist may be asked to act as a criminal profiler. Most of us have an idea of what profiling is. It has over the years become the love child of numerous television programs, movies, and crime novels. Criminal profiling involves the psychologist (though all profilers are not psychologists) using his understanding of human behavior, motivation, and pathology so that he/she can create a psychological profile of the offender. The profiles can be surprisingly accurate. From observations of the crime scene one can infer the behavioral characteristics of the individual who created it. To a profiler everyone is a slave to their psychological makeup. In turn, profilers use their knowledge of whom the typical offender is that bears these characteristics and then predicts not only how the investigators can expect the offender to behave in the future, but also what their physical appearance will likely be. While profiling may seem very exciting, few psychologists are ever involved in this field. There fortunately are not a lot of serial offenders out there. Unfortunately, there are even less places where one can obtain profiler training. Once the suspect has been apprehended there are more opportunities for psychological intervention. Psychological knowledge has been applied to many more areas of investigative police work, from the police interrogation to the police line-up. Both of these areas have prospered greatly from psychological research. While those studying in these areas do not typically work within the police station (they will often do their research from an academic institution) they will often act in a consulting capacity and will perform teaching projects with the department. One may also find a Police Psychologist working with the officers. While this individual may preform a number of the above jobs, they will also be on hand to provide counseling for officers, aid in the evaluation of prospective applicants, and provide crisis counseling for crime victims. Now we must leave the police station and enter the courtroom!

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