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| - Forensic Psychology was a course taught at Starfleet Academy during the mid-24th century. Counselor Ezri Dax took Forensic Psychology during her time at the Academy, but it wasn't her best subject. Captain Benjamin Sisko suggested that Dax use what she learned in this course to help identify the suspects and motives behind recent murders on board Deep Space 9. (DS9: "Field of Fire")
- Forensic psychology is the intersection between Psychology and the legal system. It is a division of applied psychology concerned with the collection, examination and presentation of psychological evidence for judicial purposes.
- Forensic psychology is the application of psychological priniciples and knowledge to various legal activities involving child custody disputes, child abuse of an emotional, physical and sexual nature, assessing one's personal capacity to manage one's affairs, matters of competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility & personal injury and advising judges in matters relating to sentencing regarding various mitiagants and the actuarial assessment of future risk.
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| abstract
| - Forensic Psychology was a course taught at Starfleet Academy during the mid-24th century. Counselor Ezri Dax took Forensic Psychology during her time at the Academy, but it wasn't her best subject. Captain Benjamin Sisko suggested that Dax use what she learned in this course to help identify the suspects and motives behind recent murders on board Deep Space 9. (DS9: "Field of Fire")
- Forensic psychology is the intersection between Psychology and the legal system. It is a division of applied psychology concerned with the collection, examination and presentation of psychological evidence for judicial purposes. The practice of forensic psychology involves understanding applicable law in the relevant jurisdictions in order to be able to make legal evaluations and interact appropriately with judges, attorneys and other legal professionals. An important aspect of forensic psychology is the ability to testify in court, reformulating psychological findings into the legal language of the courtroom to provide information to legal personnel in a way that can be understood. Further, in order to be a credible witness, for example in the United States, the forensic psychologist must understand the philosophy, rules and standards of the American judicial system, as well as display competency in psychological practice. Primary is an understanding of the adversarial model under which the system functions. There are also rules about hearsay evidence and importantly the exclusionary rule. Lack of a firm grasp of these procedures will result in the forensic psychologist losing credibility in the courtroom. A forensic psychologist can be trained in clinical, social, organizational or any other branch of psychology. In the United States, the salient issue is the designation by the court as an expert witness by training, experience or both by the judge. Generally, a forensic psychologist is designated as an expert in a particular jurisdiction. The number of jurisdictions in which a forensic psychologist qualifies as an expert increases with experience and reputation. Questions asked by the court of a forensic psychologist are generally not questions regarding psychology but are legal questions and the response must be in language the court understands. For example, a forensic psychologist is frequently appointed by the court to assess a defendant's competency to stand trial. The court also frequently appoints a forensic psychologist to assess the state of mind of the defendant at the time of the offense. This is referred to as an evaluation of the defendant's sanity or insanity (which relates to criminal responsibility) at the time of the offense. These are not primarily psychological questions but rather legal ones. Thus, a forensic psychologist must be able to translate psychological information into a legal framework. Forensic psychologists also provide sentencing recommendations, treatment recommendations, and any other information the judge requests, such as information regarding mitigating factors, assessment of future risk, and evaluation of witness credibility. Forensic psychology also involves training and evaluating police or other law enforcement personal, providing law enforcement with criminal profiles and in other ways working with police departments. Forensic psychologists work both with the Public Defender, the States Attorney, and private attorneys. Forensic psychologists may also help with jury selection.
- Forensic psychology is the application of psychological priniciples and knowledge to various legal activities involving child custody disputes, child abuse of an emotional, physical and sexual nature, assessing one's personal capacity to manage one's affairs, matters of competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility & personal injury and advising judges in matters relating to sentencing regarding various mitiagants and the actuarial assessment of future risk. In the civil law arena, forensic psychologists often provide assessments of whether someone has been harmed by some event. For example, in a wrongful death suit, a psychologist might offer opinions as to whether a plaintiff suffered emotional trauma in response to the death of a loved one. They might also assess the emotional injuries suffered by someone who has been injured in an accident or who witnessed a traumatic event. Psychologists are often called upon in sexual harassment suits to describe the impact of the harassment on the purported victim. In this arena, the forensic psychologist might be required to provide treatment recommendations or to analyze the specific treatment needs of an individual, and might be asked to determine the potential cost of such treatment. In the arena of workers' compensation law, a forensic psychologist might be called upon to describe how workplace stress factors impacted the psychological functioning of a claimant, or to determine whether the purported work place stress had any affect on the worker at all. As in the more general civil law context, the forensic psychologist might be asked to determine treatment needs and treatment plans. In the family law arena, forensic psychologists are often called upon to assess the "best interests" of children whose parents are divorcing. Commonly, this involves making recommendations to a Court with respect to child custody arrangements. Child custody mediation is another role that forensic psychologists undertake in the family law arena - serving as a mediator between divorced parents who remain in dispute about the needs and interests of their children. In some jurisdictions, forensic psychologists are appointed as "special masters" by the Court, and are charged with making both recommendations and orders for the care of children in disputed custody situations. Forensic psychologists are perhaps most commonly recognized for their involvement in the criminal law. Psychologists provide Courts with analysis relevant to questions of criminal insanity and trial competence. They help Courts decide whether sex offenders are likely to re-offend or whether they are dangerous. They provide information and recommendations necessary for sentencing purposes, grants of probation, and the formulation of conditions of parole. Forensic psychologists are routinely called upon in death penalty cases to provide analysis of the intentions, motivations and personality characteristics of the accused. In the Juvenile Courts, they often are asked to help determine whether a youthful offender can be rehabilitated. They assist prosecutors, defenders, and law enforcement investigators in understanding a range of normal and criminal behaviors, sometimes serving as "criminal profilers."
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