What Is Forensic Psychology

Question 1

What is forensic psychology

Answer 1

‘Psychology of the courts’
Broader than criminal psych, relates to criminal law, civil law, family law

Criminal psychology relates to psychology of criminal behaviour and social context in which it occurs

Question 2

Approaches to forensic psychology…

Answer 2

1. Narrow approach - application and practice of psychology in the legal system, especially the courts
2. Broad approach - wider application of psychology to legal matters

Question 3

Roles in forensic psychology

Answer 3

APPLIED 
Police (recruitment, stress)
Investigative (profiling)
Clinical (assessment, prediction)
Prison (treatment, parole)

ACADEMIC 
Biological (genetics, effects of injury)
Developmental (aggression/delinquency)
Cognitive (testimony, interviews)
Social (juries, media)

Question 4

8 Tensions between Law and Psychology

Answer 4

1. Conservatism vs creativity
2. Authoritative vs empirical
3. Adversarial process vs experimentation
4. Prescriptive vs descriptive
5. Idiographic vs nomothetic (generalise)
6. Emphasises certainty vs probabilistic
7. Reactive vs proactive
8. Operational vs academic

Final tension: determinism (what factors predispose a person to a decision vs free will