Criminal Psychology History

Criminal psychology, the study of the wills, thoughts, and intentions of criminals, had surfaced decades ago. For years this form of psychology has helped understand the actions of some of the most renowned criminals. While using multiple components such as science, criminal justice, and psychology, forensic psychology searches for the answers to the ,any incurable mental illness in criminals around the world. Criminal psychology, although founded years ago, was accepted in the criminal justice world until not that long ago. Throughout history, more and more branches of this specific type of psychology were founded. With work of many intensive and brilliant psychologist, criminal psychology has become more inclusive and accepted in society.

In the beginning, criminal psychology wasn’t commonly accepted throughout the criminal justice world. Many theories and ideas on the forensic psychology world were ignored and not respected in the criminal justice society. That all soon changed when a psychologist named William Stern and a criminologist proved with psychological testing that eyewitness accounts were commonly inaccurate. After this, many criminal psychology were being accepted and were even testifying in court as expert witnesses. One of the most important criminal psychologist is Hugo Munsterberg. In 1906 one of Munsterberg’s mentally ill clients had admitted to committing a murder before he had recanted. This event lead to Munsterberg writing a novel named On the Witness Stand. “In it, he explained that psychology was vital in the courtroom, how suggestion could create false memories and why eyewitness testimony was often unreliable” (Tartakovsky 1). This specific psychologist and his novel were a vital part of the develop of forensic psychology. Criminal psychology and psychologist like William Marston were even the cause for some of the most used equipment in the criminal justice system, such as the polygraph. “He discovered a link between lying and a person’s blood pressure, which would become the basis for the polygraph” (Tertakovsky 1). Psychologist and their steps towards expanding criminal psychology have helped it become more accepted and understood within the criminal justice