Forensic Psychology Research Articles

Psychological Expertising in Juvenile Delinquency Cases in Poland: Principles for Evaluation of Psychological Opinion

In the article analysed the practice of obtaining opinions of expert psychologist in juvenile delinquency cases. The choice of types of cases is premeditated, and is based on their specific character. Juvenile delinquency cases are special in terms of their subjects (children and adolescence) and aims to be achieved (the welfare of the child/adolescence). Forensic psychology expertise plays a significant part in arriving at a court ruling. Therefore, it is important to raise the quality of diagnostic procedures, expertise activities, and to establish evaluation standards for evidence from psychological expertise. The presentation of proposed psychological expertise standards should take a form of guidelines and recommendations to be met by the experts, and serve as an aid to expertise evaluation performed by courts. To reach these goals, we gathered and analyzed court records of juvenile cases in six districts (N = 253). The results of the research are related to a) the analysis of the methodological and diagnostic procedures used by experts in the process of psychological evaluation in juvenile cases and b) the formulation of principles for evaluating the evidence of psychological opinions for trial authorities. The research project indicates the practice of psychological experts by the court, the diagnostic procedure and the method of formulating psychological opinions. The analysis of the material showed, first of all, the diversity of the diagnostic and opinion practices of psychologists, thus confirming the lack of procedures standardizing the process of psychological evaluation. The variety of assessment tools, and method, and areas of diagnosis make difficulties in assessing of the evidentiary value of psychological-court opinions. The lack of principle for assessing level of opinions’ quality may promote the practice of so-called junk science.

Peculiarities of the Investigation of Juvenile Drug Trafficking Offences

The objective of this study was to determine the mandatory requirements for the investigation of drug-related crimes imposed by the age category of the accused. The study involved the following methods: information analysis, systemic approach, descriptive analysis, pragmatic approach and prognosis. It was concluded that tactical techniques, stages, investigative situations in the investigation of juvenile drug-related crimes are used in the same cases and in the same order as in relation to other categories of crimes. It is indicated that the following mandatory requirements to be met during the investigation of juvenile drug-related crimes: 1) establishment of all necessary circumstances of the case of this category; 2) ensuring mandatory participation of an expert in forensic psychology at all stages of the investigation; 3) ensuring mandatory participation at all stages of the investigation of parents or other legal representatives of the minor, representatives of the Children's Service and juvenile police; 4) ensuring psychological and informational safety of the minor; 5) ensuring the most humane and tolerant attitude towards juvenile offenders.

Transdisciplinarity as a Means of Achieving the Unity of Terminology and Regulation Sources (Using the Example of an Accusation Casus Under Article 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)

The paper presents a terminological analysis of a court casus when an underage person was accused of a crime under Art. 132 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (the RF). The analysis established a terminological ambiguity, as well as an absence of theoretical and practical unity in the understanding of the categories «other actions of sexual nature», «helpless state of a person» and «helplessness». The authors present a detailed demonstration of the uncovered terminological ambiguity using references to the current federal legislation, subordinate legal acts of the RF, as well as Decrees of the Constitutional Court of the RF and Decrees of the Plenums of the Supreme Court of the RF containing normative prescriptions and the results of generalized court practice’s assessment. The context of the stated issues is used to define specific features of other debatable and ambiguous categories of jurisprudence (the source of law, the abuse of the right and so on), the authors stress the importance of conducting an interdisciplinary analysis of the contents of the analyzed ambiguous categories and terms of the legal science with the purpose of finding an opportunity for their adequate interpretation, including an interpretation for legal practice. A detailed examination of the abovementioned problem of ambiguous terminology using only a formal-legal (dogmatic) method allowed the authors to conclude that it is necessary to apply not only an interdisciplinary research methodology, but also a transdisciplinary approach in order to achieve a unity in understanding specific legal terminology by the methods of other sciences, including forensic psychology, sexology and forensic psychiatry. This conclusion is made for both the special categories examined in the article (other acts of sexual nature, helpless state of a person, helplessness) and special legal terminology in general. The authors outline the problem implementing such a transdisciplinary approach to create unified sources of normative information, which could ensure consistent and uniform law enforcement practices of public authorities and their officials if cases when doubts arise concerning the contents of multi-purpose and objectively inter-sectorial categories and legal terms. The authors come to the fundamental conclusion that a quality research methodology needed in the conditions of the modern society of the 21st century.

JUDICIAL AND CRIMINALISTIC PSYCHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSTICS: PROFILING, VERIFICATION AND USE OF THE POLYGRAPH

The issues of using non-traditional methods of forensic research attract the attention of both practitioners and theorists of forensic science and jurisprudence, as well as many specialists in related specialties, including doctors, psychologists, biologists, programmers and representatives of other sciences. The concept of “non-traditional methods of solving crimes” appeared in the 80-90s of the XX century and integrated the methods and approaches of applied psychology, psychodiagnostics and human psychophysiology. Although the world practice of using psychological and psychophysiological methods, approaches and technologies has more than half a century, these methods and devices, programs and technologies are gaining maximum popularity at the present time. Verification and profiling are two of the most interesting and closely related modern areas of psychological forensics as a science of psychological investigation of the event of a crime and its participants (according to the “ideal” and material traces of a crime). They are important parts of modern forensic psychology. Both of these parts are implemented in the practice of investigators / forensic scientists and judges both with the help of non-instrumental (expert) and instrumental (polygraph, etc.) psychological methods and techniques. The problems of modern psychological forensics, however, are not the devices and methods themselves, their development, which undoubtedly enriches both forensic science and psychodiagnostics in general, but that the results of research and practical developments in this area can be illegally expanded to other areas, including in the professor of hyper-securization, as well as in the fact that not always reliable and transparent conclusions of an expert and / or equipment created and used by people who consider themselves experts, equipment, including statistical methods implemented by digital devices, etc.... can be used in a corrupt community, for their own purposes, against people. The emergence of a conflict of interest is all the more likely, the less substantiated and transparent the procedures, methods and algorithms for verification and profiling, and the more the country's law enforcement system is aimed at ignoring the needs of the community in favor of the interests of the bureaucratic monolith. And only then it is possible and nuno to solve the issues of improving programs and techniques of profiling and verification: today the existing approaches and devices give rather high reliability indicators, but not always.

Targets of explanation in correctional and forensic psychology: A black box model

A particularly pressing problem in the correctional psychology domain is the failure to ask questions about what the targets of explanatory theories should be, and in light of this failure, researchers have arguably spent too much time constructing misdirected explanations. In this paper this issue is addressed. First, we briefly describe the aims and different phases of scientific research. Second, the explanatory dilemma currently facing researchers within the correctional domain is outlined: concentrating on crime related categories (offending types and criminal behavior) versus psychological and social ones that are conceptually distant from criminal behavior. Third, we explore the offence solution to this problem in more detail, concluding that it is fruitless to continue basing explanations only on categories of offences or offending behavior. Fourth, we examine the possible solution of shifting the focus to psychological and social problems evident in people who have committed crime. Fifth, we present our solution to the problem of selecting explanatory targets based on the concept of black boxes. Finally, we conclude the paper with a brief discussion of the research and practice implications of our solution. • Identifies target selection dilemma in correctional psychology • Explains why phenomena modelling is a crucial part of scientific inquiry • Explores benefits and problems associated with focusing on offending behavior/offense categories versus psychological problems • Provides a solution to the target selection problem using a black box model

Dick Anthony

Obituary| November 01 2022 Dick Anthony: 24 September 1939—24 July 2022 James T. Richardson James T. Richardson University of Nevada, Reno, jtr@unr.edu Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Nova Religio (2022) 26 (2): 130–132. https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2022.26.2.130 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation James T. Richardson; Dick Anthony: 24 September 1939—24 July 2022. Nova Religio 1 November 2022; 26 (2): 130–132. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2022.26.2.130 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentNova Religio Search Dick Anthony, Ph.D., a noted forensic psychologist and therapist, passed away on July 21, 2022, at the age of 82, with his family there to comfort him and each other. Dick was a very effective and caring counselor and therapist. And his co-authored Spiritual Choices: The Problem of Recognizing Authentic Paths to Inner Transformation (Paragon House, 1987) is well worth reading. Dick was also a giant in the field of new religions studies. I am a better person and scholar for having known and worked with him over many decades and I am sure many others can say the same. We first met in the early 1970s at a Society for the Scientific Study of Religion meeting where we both (he with Tom Robbins) presented results of early research on new religious movements (NRMs). I will never forget the sight of the rather large Tom and the much smaller Dick... You do not currently have access to this content.

On the Main Terms of the Forensic Psychological Analysis of Information Materials

The article presents the results of the development of the main terms of the forensic psychological analysis of information materials. At the current stage the author suggests the definitions of twelve terms, including the subject of this type of examination, its object, tasks, and methods. She also defines “information materials” as a collective, generalized concept of the forensic psychological analysis of information materials. It is shown that the new direction of forensic psychology is a continuation of its traditional areas related to the study of living persons and post-mortem (absentee) studies, as well as the reliance on the forensic expertology is justified.The article is the first in the series of works on the unification of the terms and definitions of the forensic psychological analysis of information materials. The author invites the expert community to a discussion to develop the most correct definitions of the main terms of this type of examination for their subsequent standardization.

A brief comparison of forensic psychology in South Africa, the United States, and Canada

Considering forensic psychology’s varying stages of development across the world, this work briefly explores historical developments, the field of practice, training, licensing, legislation, and associated challenges in South Africa, the United States, and Canada. While there are numerous similarities, a few differences are evident. Among the common areas of practice, psychologists are involved in assessments to determine fitness (competency) to stand trial, criminal responsibility in adults, as well as assisting courts in making determinations on criminal responsibility in the case of children in conflict with the law. In South Africa, psychological assessments of sexual violence complainants with intellectual disability are also required by courts. Psychological intervention, research, and policy development work are also conducted in the three countries. Challenges appear in the intersection between psychology and the law, expectations of psychologists, and the inclusion of psychologists in evaluation panels in South Africa and Canada. It is clear that psychologists are playing an active role in the professional development of the field, research, and coordinating with legislative authorities in advancing forensic mental health and advocating for people with mental health problems. However, across the three countries, there is a need for continued focus on the broader issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion with respect to the forensic populations being served, and there has to be a concerted effort to address the psychosocial needs of marginalized communities.

My journey to becoming a registered forensic psychologist via the doctorate route

My journey to becoming a registered forensic psychologist via the doctorate route

My reflections on being a BPS stage 2 forensic psychology trainee

My reflections on being a BPS stage 2 forensic psychology trainee

A Thunderbolt Strikes Psychology: The Inspirational Life of Laura Brown

Laura Brown is a clinical and forensic psychologist who works from a feminist theory perspective. She is an intellectual, a writer, and ardent social justice activist. Growing up the grandchild of immigrants in a middle class, well-educated suburb, Laura’s early career aspirations felt within reach but did not insulate her from the “rampant sexism” of the time simply because that was so pervasive. Built on foundations of fairness and equal treatment for all beings, shaped equally by her Jewish heritage and family values of contrarianism, Laura’s path to feminism and liberation felt like the inevitable outcome of all of her previous immersion in the world of social justice activism and provided a community of likeminded women. These women and spaces would become critical beacons in the fostering of her own consciousness-raising and racial and sexual identity development. Her contributions to psychology and related fields are extensive and include prominent themes in feminist therapy theory and psychotherapy and the treatment of trauma.

International perspective on guidelines and policies for child custody and child maltreatment risk evaluations: A preliminary comparative analysis across selected countries in Europe and North America

Little knowledge exists on how evaluators in child custody and child maltreatment cases are informed by guidelines, the kinds of qualifications required and the types of training provided in different countries. The purpose of this paper is to provide an international preliminary comparison on how child custody and child maltreatment risk assessments are conducted in selected Western countries, and how the assessments are informed by best practice guidelines. Another aim is to increase knowledge on how the guidelines and best-practice standards could be developed further to reflect recent research findings. A total number of 18 guidelines were included in the analyses: four from Canada, five from the United States, three from the United Kingdom, three from the Netherlands, two from Finland, and one from Germany. We conducted a content analysis of the included guidelines in the database, focusing on how the guidelines address the best interest of the child criteria, guidelines for conducting the assessments, considerations for evaluative criteria, and specific guidance for conducting specific assessment procedures (e.g., interviews and observations). Findings show that the qualifications of and training provided to evaluators in child custody and child maltreatment risk evaluations are largely heterogeneous across the countries represented. Guidelines differ in whether and how they highlight the importance of evidence-based practices and scientifically validated assessment measures. Implications are drawn from the review and contextualized by international expert authors in the fields of forensic psychology, and family law. After the content analysis, discussion sessions within the expert group were held. The authors provide both commentaries and suggestions to improve the development of standard methods for conducting both child custody and child maltreatment risk evaluations and to consider a more transparent and judicious use of social science research to guide methods and the recommendations offered within these assessments.

Likelihood ratios in psychological expert opinion, and their reception by professional judges

In various countries, forensic scientists have begun to express their expert opinion in terms of the likelihood of observing the evidence under the primary and under an alternative hypothesis (i.e. the likelihood-ratio approach). This development is often confined to technical domains such as fingerprint analyses. In forensic psychological expertise, likelihood ratios are largely absent. In this contribution, we explain how forensic psychologists can employ likelihood ratios, and we describe two illustrating cases. We also present two studies in which we examined how (Dutch) professional judges appreciate psychological expertise framed in likelihood ratios. Findings suggest that judges ( N = 39) appreciate a fictitious expert witness report framed in likelihood-ratios similarly to an opinion framed one-dimensionally. Judges’ ( N = 79) understanding of a psychological expert opinion framed in likelihood ratios was satisfactory as measured by self-report and an actual test We conclude that, as is custom in forensic technical domains, psychological expert opinion can be expressed in likelihoods. Two of the hypothesised flipsides, namely, lawyers’ dislike of likelihoods, and their lack of proper understanding, may be surmountable.

Le rapport d’expertise psychologique ou psychiatrique dans un contexte légal : faiblesses et ressources pour l’améliorer

IntroductionForensic assessments are mandated by judicial authorities to answer various questions and to assist in the judicial decision-making process. Judicial expertise is frequently the subject of publications; however, few French-speaking studies have focused on written forensic reports, i.e. the way in which the report is presented and written by the author. The way in which the report is written could have an impact on the perception of the situation of the person being assessed, on the value attributed to this complex assessment, and on the judicial decisions. Thus, the objective of this article is to review the main criticisms in forensic reports in scientific literature, as well as the resources that could help to improve them and ensure conformity to professional expectations. MethodThis article presents a narrative review of the scientific literature. It focuses on English and French publications and literature reviews in the field of forensic psychology and psychiatry. ResultsThe review of the literature identified four aspects that could affect the quality of the report: 1/The expert framework and the position of the expert; 2/The terminology and writing styles used in the report; 3/The lack of reference to general principles of psycho-legal assessment; and 4/Weaknesses in the organization of the data and in the argumentative approach to answering the questions. ConclusionThe weaknesses identified in the literature reviewed could be improved through training of the experts, the implementation of assessment guides, experts’ collegiality, and checklists.

Burnout among Professionals Working in Corrections: A Two Stage Review.

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion often caused by excessive and prolonged stress. Given the emotionally and often physically demanding nature of the work of correctional professionals, they are at substantial risk of suffering the adverse consequences of burnout. We systematically reviewed (Stage 1) the influence of burnout amongst forensic psychologists, psychiatrists, case workers, nurses, and correction officers. Interventions were then reviewed (Stage 2) at the individual and collective level to examine the effectiveness or efficacy of treatments for burnout among professionals working in corrections.

Establishing Applied Forensic Psychology in Palestine: Legal and Psychological Issues

Forensic Psychology is the branch of psychology focused on the production and application of psychological principles to the legal process including competency, validity of defenses based on mental health behavior, predicting violent behavior, assessing injury and child custody1. Forensic Psychology has evolved in the United States since 2001 when it was recognized as a specialty of the American Psychological Association (APA) and psychologists are now serving the court systems in a wide variety of tasks2. Unfortunately, in developing nations such as Palestine both access to and understanding of the specialty of Forensic Psychology is minimal, leaving critical functions of legal systems where psychological data is needed, unserved and uninformed3. The following study was conducted in Nablus, West Bank Palestine where the first Master of Clinical Psychology program has produced a cohort of mental health professionals with an expertise in Forensic Psychology. The intervention focused on the training of lawyers (with a specialty in domestic violence and family protection) on the general principles and uses of psychology in the legal system and an introduction of how they could use forensic psychologists to the benefit of the court. The data determined that participants in the one-day training module gain significant understanding and motivation to use forensic psychologists in their practice (.002 level of significance) and that the effect was undifferentiated by age, gender, place of residence or education level). The current study determines that with a minimal effort legal professionals can gain both understanding and a motivation to use psychological professionals, even in systems where there was no previous exposure to the field. Such openings can change the practice of law and legal systems in a positive way to include the expertise of mental health professionals at every level of governance and jurisdiction. Having access to and incorporating psychological data from qualified professionals into developing legal institutions is critical in insuring human rights and scienced based evidence at every level of societal systems.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINATION ON CERTAIN RESEARCH EXAMPLES IN FORENSIC EXPERTOLOGY

On the basis of practical experience in a scientific article, the author considers the implementation of special methodological principles directly related to the conduct of forensic psychological examination. It is concluded that the formation of special knowledge by an expert in compliance with ethical codes and rules for conducting forensic psychological examinations is actively operating today, and the implementation of the principles of forensic psychological examination is demonstrated by forensic psychologists, who aim not just to state the facts, but to justify the necessary establishing the truth in specific cases, while helping the investigating authorities to form an evidence base, and the court to resolve the issue of psychological content. Key words: forensic psychological examination, principles of forensic activity, criminal proceedings, the use of a polygraph.

Using self-formulation in the development of trainee forensic psychologists

Using self-formulation in the development of trainee forensic psychologists

Role of Social Support and Cognitive Emotion Regulation in Mental Health Outcomes of Women Behind Bars

Purpose:This research was carried out to find the role of social support and cognitive emotion regulation approaches in mental health outcomes of women behind bars. Method:Female prisoners (n=200) were approached from four district jails of Punjab with purposive sampling technique. Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ; Garnefski, Kraaij & Spinhoven, 2001), General Health Questionnaire- 28 (GHQ-28; Goldberg ,1978) and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS, Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet & Farley, 1988) were used to measure coping strategies, mental health and communal support provided to female prisoners. Results: Regression analysis revealed that perception of social support from significant others considerably predicted adaptive cognitive emotion regulation approaches whereas, lack of perceived social support lead towards maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and poorer mental health outcomes. It was also indicated from the results that somatic symptoms were predominant psychological problem among female prisoners, followed by anxiety insomnia, social dysfunction and severe depression. Limitations and suggestions were also discussed. Conclusion: This study proved to be a significant addition in forensic psychology and help forensic psychologist to understand mental health problems of female prisoners and to make interventions.

"Angela's psych squad": Black psychology against the American carceral state in the 1970s.

This article examines the duality of the Black psychology movement in the United States as both a distinctly American and a postcolonial approach to mental health. The Westside Community Mental Health Center in San Francisco served as the organizational hub for the Association for Black Psychologists (ABPsi) in the 1970s. The Westside clinicians understood forensic psychology as a kind of preventative care as California, more so than any other state, was seduced by the eugenic dream of human improvement through therapeutic interventions in schools and prisons intended to correct the wayward deviant. Their community's mental wellbeing required dismantling the interlinked disciplinary apparatus which disproportionately surveyed, tracked, and confined young Black men. These psychologists mounted a legal challenge to the use of intelligence testing to sort Black children in schools, seeking to replace standardized tests with "dynamic assessments" inspired by Israeli psychologist Reuven Feuerstein's work with refugee children. They consulted on the voir dire process in the highly politicized Angela Davis trial to minimize the presence of racially prejudiced jurors. They offered expert testimony on the psychological damage of solitary confinement on behalf of prison activists. The Westside team artfully developed and deployed the psychological concept of "bias" in their confrontations with local manifestations of the American carceral state. In their theoretical writings, these psychologists reflected upon their historical positionality, understanding themselves as products of the decolonial moment. Bay Area encounters with Third World internationalism, the Black Panther Party (BPP), the Nation of Islam, and community-led substance abuse programs shaped clinical care at Westside and inspired the Afrocentric consciousness many came to espouse. ABPsi initially had a significant impact on the historically white American Psychological Association's training practices. However, the two organizations split over the IQ controversy at a moment when psychologists became increasingly enmeshed in the criminal justice system.