PSYC 2400 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Mental Health Law, Dentistry, Victimology
25 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Unit 2
Section 1: What is Forensic Psychology
Narrow Definition
• Prof practice of clinical psych focusing on assessment & treatment of individuals w/in a
legal context
Broad Definition
• Prof practice of clinical psych focusing on assessment & treatment of individuals w/in a
legal context, and
• Research that examines aspects of human behaviour directly related to the legal process
Roles of a Forensic Psychologist
• Clinical Forensic Psych
o Mental health issues pertaining to legal system
▪ Go to court & testify to determine if someone is fit to stand trial, or may
have a disorder that impact the decisions made
▪ Work in prisons to provide treatment & assessments to those with
mental health problems
o Qualifications: Graduate degree + registered with professional org
• Experimental Forensic Psych
o Research related to legal system
▪ Government or academia
o Qualifications: Graduate degree with research focused on a forensic
psychological issue
• Legal Scholar
o Focus on mental health law, policy analysis, legislative consultations
o Qualifications: Graduate degree with research focused on a forensic – legal issue
Relationship b/w Psych & Law
• Psych in the law
o Use of psych within the legal system
▪ Forensic clinical psychologists
▪ Police use the info developed in their jobs
• Psych & the law
o Use of psych to study the law & legal system
• Psych of the law
o Use of psych to study the law itself
• Police officer uses open-ended questions when interviewing a child victim – Psych in the
law
• How much discretion should judges have when sentencing – Psych of the law
• Researching the risk factors predictive of sexual recidivism – Psych & the law
5 Major Areas of Forensic Psych
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
• Police Psych
o Who do we want/don't want to be our police officers
• Psych of Delinquency & Crime
o Why do people start & stop engage in crime?
o What makes psychopaths who they are
• Victimology & Victim Services
o Support
o Long term consequences
• Legal Psych
o What happens in the courtroom?
• Correctional Psych
o Assessing risk prior to release
o Providing treatment
Other Disciplines
• Forensic Anthropologist – examines bones
o Examine skeleton for age, cause of death, race, sex
• Forensic Linguist – examines words
o Was it really a suicide note?
• Forensic Odontologist – study dental records
o Matching bite marks
• Forensic Entomologist – insects at crime scenes
o Discover how long the body has been at the crime scene
o What stage of development those insects are?
• Forensic Pathologist – perform autopsies
o Cause & time of death
• Forensic Chemist – analyzes blood, paint chips, hair samples
• Forensic Artist – facial composites, age progression
Section 2: Myths & Realities
• Modern police interrogation techniques can result in false confessions
o Yes, use of psychological coercive techniques increase the likelihood of false
confessions (even for every serious crime)
• Eyewitness can easily identify the suspect from police lineups
o Witnesses often make mistakes when identifying suspects from police lineup
o Inaccurate eyewitness identifications are the leading cause of wrongful
convictions
o 75% of wrongful convictions are due to this
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
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