intro and expert witness testimony Flashcards
what are the two main approaches to forensic psychology?
narrow approach and broad approch
explain the narrow approach in forensic psychology
- focuses mainly on the applied/clinical aspects
- need to be a practicing psychologist (phd)
- engaged regularly as experts
explain the broad approch in forensic psychology
- researcher in interaction with the legal system
- consider both criminal and civil law
- much more limited role as experts in court
- not regulated (anyone could call themselves a forensic psych as long as link btwn psych and legal system)
what could be the three roles of a forensic psychologist?
- clinician
- researcher
- legal scholar
explain the role of a forensic psychologist as a clinician
- assessment and treatment of mental health as they pertain to the law/legal system (ex. is offender likely to commit crime if let free, child custody mediation)
explain the role of a forensic psychologist as a researcher
- study of human behavior as it relates to the law/legal system (ex. what factors influence jury decision making)
- concerned w much more than mental health
explain the role of a forensic psychologist as a legal scholar
- scholarly analyses of mental health law and psychologically legal movements/policy analysis and legislative consultation
- law professional with an interst in psych
what are the three ways in which psychology and the law relate to eachother?
- psychology AND the law
- psychology IN the law
- psychology OF the law
explain ‘psychology AND the law’
- analyze law/operation of legal system from a psychological perspective
- becomes a critic of the legal system
- ex. are eyewitness testimonies accruate?
explain ‘psychology IN the law’
- the use of psychology in the legal system as that system operates
- more pplied, less research
- how this knowledge can be used by anyone in the legal system
- expert testimony of psychologist
- both disciplines working tgt
explain ‘psychology OF the law’
- the use of psychology to study the law itself
- legal scholar
- focus on futire, more academic questions, more multidisciplinary
- ex. what room should police play in domestic dispute?
influence of r v. hubbert (1975)
- impartiality of jurors
- many ways to ensure they are unbiases
- court has the right to question the impartility of jurors as a reason for an appeal
influence of r v. sophonow (1986)
- problems with eyewitness evidence collected by police
- overturn murder conviction bc error in law, problem with eyewitness evidence
influence of r v. lavallée (1990)
- established guidelines for when and how expert testimon should be used in cases involving battered women syndrome
- a person who has suffered abuse may fear for their lives even if not immediate danger
influence of r v. levogiannis (1993)
- children are now allowed to testify in court behind screens that prevent them from seeing the accused
influence of r v. mohan (1994)
- established criteria for determining when expert testimony should be admitting into court
- doctor who was accused of molesting his children patients, expert said he was not a pedophile, therefore he could not have done the act
influence of r v. oickle (2000)
- the police can basically lie during investigations (psychological coercion), and that confessions got from this are admissable in court (as long as it wouldn’t shock the public if they found out)
what are the three broad psychological theories of crime
- psychodynamic theories
- learning theories
- personality theories
name the sub-categories of the psychodynamic theories
- the role of the superego
- bowlby’s theory of maternal deprevation
- hirschi’s social control theory
explain the role of the superego theory
- main source of criminal behaviour relates to inadequate formation of the superego during childhood
- harsh superego: feel guilty abt everything, so they commit crime to invite punishment to help resolve guilt
- weak superego: commit crime bc of psychopathic personality, superego fails to regulate the id (ca), lack empathy
- deviant superego: no problem with superego, but if u learn what is good vs bad from criminal ppl (bad role model), ofc u gon be crass
explain bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation
- any disruption of the mother-child relationship during early childhood may have harmful and potentially irreversible long term effects, especially on the child’s ability to establish meaningful prosocial relationships
explain hirschi’s social control theory
- the reason why people don’t violate the law is the bond that ppl have with society. if the bond is weak, they are more likely to commit crime
- attachment: interest in others (parents, friends), don’t wanna ruin relationship
- commitment: time, energy, and effort placed in conventional behaviour (ex. getting education). higher risk of losing engagement of commit crime, so they don’t
- inolvement: time and energy one spends taking part in activities that are in the w the interst of society (more time spent in leisure activity = less time available to commit crime)
- belief: one’s conviction that ppl should respect the law
explain the learning theory of crime
- based on the principle of conditioning (learned)
- tries to explain how criminal behavior is developped and maintained
- classical and operant conditioning, vicarious learning
name thr sub-categories of personality theories of crime
- eysenk’s biosocial theory of crime
- kernberg’s theory of borderline personality organization