Welcome to Forensic Psychology

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Welcometo Forensic Psychology

• Instructor Debbie Matheson

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• Is there any one question about/ aspect of
  forensic psychology that piques your curiousity?

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Conceptualizing the Relationship Between
Psychology and the Law
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Conceptualizing the Relationship Between
Psychology and the Law

• Haneys Taxonomy (in Ogloff Finkelman, 1999)
• Psychology in the Law

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Conceptualizing the Relationship Between
Psychology and the Law

• Haneys Taxonomy (in Ogloff Finkelman, 1999)
• Psychology in the Law
• Psychology and Law

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Conceptualizing the Relationship Between
Psychology and the Law

• Haneys Taxonomy (in Ogloff Finkelman, 1999)
• Psychology in the Law
• Psychology and Law
• Psychology of Law

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Conflict between Psychology and the Law (Haney,
in Ogloff Finkelman, 1999)
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Conflict between Psychology and the Law (Haney,
in Ogloff Finkelman, 1999)

• Psychology emphasizes creativity the law
  emphasizes conservatism

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Conflict between Psychology and the Law (Haney,
in Ogloff Finkelman, 1999)

• Psychology emphasizes creativity the law
  emphasizes conservatism
• The law is authoritative psychology is empirical

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Conflict between Psychology and the Law (Haney,
in Ogloff Finkelman, 1999)

• Psychology emphasizes creativity the law
  emphasizes conservatism
• The law is authoritative psychology is empirical
• Psychology relies on experimentation the law
  relies on adversarial process

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Conflict between Psychology and the Law (Haney,
in Ogloff Finkelman, 1999)

• Psychology emphasizes creativity the law
  emphasizes conservatism
• The law is authoritative psychology is empirical
• Psychology relies on experimentation the law
  relies on adversarial process
• The law is prescriptive psychology is
  descriptive.

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• The law is idiographic psychology is nomothetic.

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• The law is idiographic psychology is nomothetic.
• The law emphasizes certainty psychology is
  probabilistic.

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• The law is idiographic psychology is nomothetic.
• The law emphasizes certainty psychology is
  probabilistic.
• Psychology is proactive law is reactive.

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• The law is idiographic psychology is nomothetic.
• The law emphasizes certainty psychology is
  probabilistic.
• Psychology is proactive law is reactive.
• Psychology is academic law is operational.

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Legal psychology is more than

• Psychology and the law
• Forensic psychology narrowly defined
• Criminal psychology

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Legal Psychology

• The scientific study of the effect of law on
  people and the effect people have on the law.
  Legal psychology also includes the application of
  the study and practice of psychology to legal
  institutions and people who come into contact
  with the law (Ogloff, 2002, p. 13).

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The Beginnings

• 1906 Freuds proposal psychology could be of
  use to legal system
• Hugo Munsterberg
• Demonstrating the fallibility of memory
• Publishing On the Witness Stand (1908)
• Offering his testimony as an expert witness in
  highly publicized trials
• Heavily criticized

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• Not the sole instigator
• Hermann Ebbinghaus memory loss
• Alfred Binet childrens ability as eyewitnesses

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• Not the sole instigator
• Hermann Ebbinghaus memory loss
• Alfred Binet childrens ability as eyewitnesses
• Sociological Jurisprudence (1920s)
• Examine and understand the social contexts from
  which the law was derived

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The Resurrection

• Little research between World War I 1970s
• Until 1960s, more work in legal field by
  anthropologists, sociologists, psychiatrists
• Why the gap?
• Research more concerned with theoretical issues
  than practical problems

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The Resurrection

• 1960s Why the renewed interest?
• Emphasis on making observations in natural
  contexts in order to understand social behaviour
  memory
• Social psychology expanded concepts to real-world
  topics

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The Resurrection

• In 1976, psychology and the law was reviewed in
  the Annual Review of Psychology.

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The Present

• Psychologists conduct research on many topics
  relevant to legal system
• jury decision making
• deception detection
• impact of battered woman defence

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The Present

• Psychologists conduct research on many topics
  relevant to legal system
• jury decision making
• deception detection
• impact of battered woman defence
• Much of the work done in laboratories

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The Present

• Psychologists conduct research on many topics
  relevant to legal system
• jury decision making
• deception detection
• impact of battered woman defence
• Much of the work done in laboratories
• Psychologists must now consider how their
  perspectives can influence legal system

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Organizations

• American Psychology-Law Society (APLS 1968/9)
• http//www.ap-ls.org/
• Division 41 of APA (1980/1 )
• ? The two merged in 1984.
• Criminal Justice Section of the Canadian
  Psychological Association
• http//www.cpa.ca/CJS/index.html
• European Association of Psychology and Law
• http//www.law.kuleuven.ac.be/eapl/

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Journals

• Law and Human Behavior
• (APLS1977)
• Psychology, Public Policy and Law
• (APA 1995)

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Majority of research

• In Law and Human Behaviour
• Jury decision making and eyewitness testimony

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Majority of research

• In Law and Human Behaviour
• Jury decision making and eyewitness testimony
• In the most prominent journals in legal
  psychology
• jury issues, criminal law and criminal procedure,
  evidence-related concerns, and mental health law
  topics.

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Training

• Large number of Canadian universities offer at
  least one undergraduate course
• Dalhousie U only university with a formalized
  undergraduate program in forensic psychology

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GraduateTraining

• Combined Psyc and Law Degree
• Simon Fraser University (clinical and non-cl)
• University of Nebraska (clinical and non-cl)
• University of Arizona (clinical and non-cl)
• University of Alabama (clinical)
• Drexel University/Villanova Law School (clinical)
• Florida International University (non-clinical
• Pacific Graduate School of Psychology
  (non-clinical)
• (www.unl.edu/ap-ls/student/graduate_programs.html)

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Graduate Training (contd)

• Doctoral programs with specializations in
  forensic psychology and law
• E.g., Carleton and Saskatchewan

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Graduate Training (contd)

• Doctoral programs with faculty who specialize in
  forensic psychology and law
• E.g., Queens University Rod Lindsay
• E.g., University of Victoria Elizabeth
  Brimacombe and Steve Lindsay

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Practical Training

• Psychologists increasingly active in offering
  training to legal staff

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Practical Training

• Psychologists increasingly active in offering
  training to legal staff
• National Judicial Institute has invited
  psychologists to offer training to judges

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Practical Training (contd)

• Training law enforcement officers to interview
  children

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Practical Training (contd)

• Training law enforcement officers to interview
  children
• Training has been offered in risk-assessment
  tools

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The law uses psychology like a drunk uses a lamp
postmore for support than illumination (Loh, as
cited in Ogloff, 2002)
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