Forensic Psychology Article Critique Paper

Brigham, J. C. (1999). What is forensic psychology, anyway? Law and Human Behavior, 23(3), 273-298. doi:10.1023/a:1022304414537

Brigham (1999) investigated the history of forensic psychology and how it is used and defined at the current time. The author uses evidence such as the M’Naghten verdict, in which a man who tried to assassinate the British Prime Minister was found not guilty due to reason of insanity due to the testimony of nine different medical experts. Important conclusions that can be drawn from this article are the early beginnings of forensic psychology and the constant struggle between clinical and nonclinical psychologists that has shaped the conception of forensic psychology. A strength of this article is that it takes

Kerle, K. (2016). The Mentally Ill and Crisis Intervention Teams: Reflections on Jails and the U.S. Mental Health Challenge. The Prison Journal, 96(1), 153-161. doi:10.1177/0032885515605497

Kerle (2016) reviews the history of mental illness in jails and the effectiveness of crisis intervention teams (CIT). The author uses evidence such as a VERA Institute Report that assesses current trends in jail populations. Important conclusions that can be drawn from this article are that the elimination of major mental hospital in the country had an impact on the large population of mentally ill in the jail system. Further, improvement in this situation can be observed through the use of CITs within correctional institutions. A strength of this article is for one that the review was conducted recently. This means that the article takes into account more recent developments within the criminal justice system and how those affected the overall system. A weakness on the other hand could be that the article only looks at one method for improving the problem and does not compare it to other methods that have been instituted to