Forensic Psychology

“ People’s interest for forensic psychology has increased throughout the years, this is because of tv shows such as “Criminal Minds,” and “CSI: Miami,”where criminal profilers have the ability to give complex personality and behavioral descriptions of perpetrators (“UNSUBs”). This is a misunderstanding of the role that forensic psychologists play which can lead to some confusion about who is a forensic psychologist. Since forensic psychology is a new field within psychology, it continues to grow and more people are discovering their interest for this field.” (Ward 1). It would probably be best to start with a definition.

Forensic psychology is the study between psychology and the justice system. Psychologists who are specialized in this field

“Forensic psychologists assist in a wide variety of legal matters, including: mental state examinations of criminal defendants (insanity, competency to stand trial, etc.), child custody/family law, violence risk assessment, civil law (personal injury cases), social science research (e.g., explaining a scholarly topic such as memory research to a jury) , mediation/dispute resolution, jury selection.” (Franklin 1)

Another difficult task that a forensic psychologist faces is that sometimes one has to be put into the situation of having to work and interact with prisoners/criminals and observe their behavior which means that there will have to be some trust between the offender/accused criminal and the

He/she works with police, attorneys and other law enforcement agents to investigate cases and arrive at just conclusions. In order to achieve this particular objective, they also work closely with relations of suspects to establish the root cause of crimes and facts about crime incidents. The role of a forensic psychologist entails carrying out investigation to determine if a suspect will be a threat to the society or not if released. He/she undertakes risk assessments with crime suspects and work to reduce risk of criminals going back to the same crime. The psychologist administers treatment to crime suspects and also provides research-based evidence to support assertions about a criminal or crime suspect. His/her responsibilities also include advising probation boards and parole officers on how best to deal with criminals. He/she assesses the behavior of suspects awaiting trials and convicted inmates in correctional facilities to determine how they are adapting to corrections administered to them. He/she organizes individual and/or group therapy for prison inmates, and trains interns and students intending to venture into the field of forensic psychology. The forensic psychologist work description also entails finding out if a criminal is fit for trial and if a witness is being truthful.” (Team