intro and expert witness testimony

Question 1

what are the two main approaches to forensic psychology?

Answer 1

narrow approach and broad approch

Question 2

explain the narrow approach in forensic psychology

Answer 2

• focuses mainly on the applied/clinical aspects
• need to be a practicing psychologist (phd)
• engaged regularly as experts

Question 3

explain the broad approch in forensic psychology

Answer 3

• 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)

Question 4

what could be the three roles of a forensic psychologist?

Answer 4

• clinician
• researcher
• legal scholar

Question 5

explain the role of a forensic psychologist as a clinician

Answer 5

• 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)

Question 6

explain the role of a forensic psychologist as a researcher

Answer 6

• 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

Question 7

explain the role of a forensic psychologist as a legal scholar

Answer 7

• scholarly analyses of mental health law and psychologically legal movements/policy analysis and legislative consultation
• law professional with an interst in psych

Question 8

what are the three ways in which psychology and the law relate to eachother?

Answer 8

• psychology AND the law
• psychology IN the law
• psychology OF the law

Question 9

explain ‘psychology AND the law’

Answer 9

• analyze law/operation of legal system from a psychological perspective
• becomes a critic of the legal system
• ex. are eyewitness testimonies accruate?

Question 10

explain ‘psychology IN the law’

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

explain ‘psychology OF the law’

Answer 11

• 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?

Question 12

influence of r v. hubbert (1975)

Answer 12

• 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

Question 13

influence of r v. sophonow (1986)

Answer 13

• problems with eyewitness evidence collected by police
• overturn murder conviction bc error in law, problem with eyewitness evidence

Question 14

influence of r v. lavallée (1990)

Answer 14

• 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

Question 15

influence of r v. levogiannis (1993)

Answer 15

• children are now allowed to testify in court behind screens that prevent them from seeing the accused

Question 16

influence of r v. mohan (1994)

Answer 16

• 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

Question 17

influence of r v. oickle (2000)

Answer 17

• 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)

Question 18

what are the three broad psychological theories of crime

Answer 18

• psychodynamic theories
• learning theories
• personality theories

Question 19

name the sub-categories of the psychodynamic theories

Answer 19

• the role of the superego
• bowlby’s theory of maternal deprevation
• hirschi’s social control theory

Question 20

explain the role of the superego theory

Answer 20

• 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

Question 21

explain bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation

Answer 21

• 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

Question 22

explain hirschi’s social control theory

Answer 22

• 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

Question 23

explain the learning theory of crime

Answer 23

• based on the principle of conditioning (learned)
• tries to explain how criminal behavior is developped and maintained
• classical and operant conditioning, vicarious learning

Question 23

name thr sub-categories of personality theories of crime

Answer 23

• eysenk’s biosocial theory of crime
• kernberg’s theory of borderline personality organization

Question 24

explain eysenk’s biosocial theory of crime

Answer 24

• interaction between biological, social, and individual factors
• extraversion, neuroticism and psychotism are three dimensions to personality, the first two being the most influential in dev or criminal behaviour
• extraversion needs stimulation (like commiting crime)
• high neurotiscm: don’t learn from the consq of actions

Question 25

explain kernberg’s theory of borderline personality organization

Answer 25

• criminal personality is organized along a continuum from psychotic ->borderline -> neurotic, and defined by the capacity for reality testing and unconscious defensice process
• psychotic: absence of reality testing and the use of primitive defences
• borderline: capacity for reality testing and use of primitive defences
• neurotic: capacity for reality testing and use of higher-level defences

Question 26

what is an expert witness?

Answer 26

• a witness who provides the court w info (often an opinion on a particular matter) that assists the court in understanding an issue of relevance to the case
• info provided must always fall within the limits of their area of expertise

Question 27

what must expert witnesses be knowledgable about?

Answer 27

• the functions of expert witnesses (information and opinion)
• the differences btwn their field of expertise and the law
• the criteria for accepting expert testimony

Question 28

name and explain the seven dimensions in which psychology and law differ

Answer 28

• knowledge (research vs legal precedent and logical thinking)
• methodology (nomoethic: broad trends vs idiographic: case by case)
• espistemology (objective vs subjective)
• criteria (how to decide what is true)(replication/conservative vs single-case/more lenient
• principles (alternative explanations vs only one correct explanation)
• latitude (what the expert, psych vs lawyer) can do (limited by the court vs fewer exceptions)
• nature of law (descriptive vs prescriptve)

Question 29

what is the general acceptance test?

Answer 29

• expert testimony accepted in court if the basis of the testimony is generally accepted within the relevant scientific community

Question 30

what elements constitute the daubert criteria (u.s)

Answer 30

• the research has been peer-reviewed
• the research is testable
• the research has a recognized rate of error
• the research adheres to professional standards

Question 31

what elements constitute the mohan criteria (canada)

Answer 31

• the evidence must be relevant (ex. does having x make u more or less likely to commit crime)
• the evidence must be necessary for assisting the trier of fact (factual findings)
• the evidence must not violate any other rule of exclusion (i.e. rules that would otherwise exclude the admissability of the evidence)
• the testimony must be presented by a qualified expert