Forensic Psychologists: What do they actually do

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Forensic Psychologists What do they actually do?

• Ruth Hatcher
• Lecturer in Forensic Psychology
• School of Psychology Forensic Section
• rmh12_at_le.ac.uk

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What is Criminal/Forensic Psychology?

• Any ideas?
• Anyone wish to study Forensic Psychology?
• Anyone want to be a Forensic Psychologist?

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What is Criminal/Forensic Psychology?

• One definition
• That branch of psychology which is concerned
  with the collection, examination and presentation
  of evidence for judicial purposes.
• (Gudjonsson Haward, 1998, p. 1)

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What is Criminal/Forensic Psychology?

• A more inclusive definition
• Any application of psychological knowledge to a
  task faced by the legal system.
• (Wrightsman, 2001, p. 2)

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Four types of roles for Forensic Psychologists

• Clinical assessment of individuals to aid the
  judicial system
• Experimental research to inform a case or the
  wider scientific community
• Actuarial provisional of statistical
  information to inform a case
• Advisory to police, the courts, the prosecution
  or defence.
• (Haward, 1981)

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Some of the functions of the Forensic Psychologist

• Criminal investigations
• Offender profiling
• Crime analysis
• Advice on interviewing/detecting deception and
  eyewitness research
• Expert witnesses
• Assessment and Treatment of Offenders
• Academia and Research

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Criminal Investigations

• Offender Profiling
• The popular face of forensic psychology
• Cracker/ Waking the Dead etc.
• Media portrayal not necessarily correct
• Lack of agreed definition in academic circles as
  to what constitutes offender profiling

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Criminal Investigations

• Offender Profiling
• What is agreed
• Information from crime scene relating to the
  offenders behaviour is used.
• Pooled with other information e.g. victim
  statements
• Conclusions drawn about the nature of the person
  who committed the crime e.g. was the crime
  planned, does the offender live locally, what
  gender is the offender?

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Criminal Investigations

• Offender Profiling Types
• Geographical
• Distance Decay/ Rational Choice Theory
• Professor David Canter and Dr Kim Rossmo
• e.g. Marauders vs. Commuters
• Personal Characteristics
• Statistical profiling
• Clinical profiling
• FBI

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Crime/Intelligence Analysis

• Crime analysts generally employed by police or
  police agencies
• National Crime and Operations Faculty/ National
  Crime Squad
• Perform case linkage work
• Based on the similarities in the behaviour of an
  offender as reported by victim or inferred from
  the crime scene

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Crime/Intelligence Analysis

• For example
• A rape is committed by a stranger on a woman
  walking home alone from a nightclub
• Crime analysts would use the details of the case
  to check against other crimes
• e.g. she had just left a nightclub, the offender
  took an item of her clothing, the fact that
  threats were made to the woman and the contents
  of those threats
• Information is then fed back to the relevant
  police force so that they can investigate the
  potential of a linked crime series

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Interviewing, detecting deception and eyewitness
research

• Important task - collect information to put a
  case together
• Often the main source evidence from
  eyewitnesses/suspects
• Hence interviews aim to collect as much
  accurate information as possible
• Manner of interview is hence crucial to a case

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Interviewing, detecting deception and eyewitness
research

• Information relating to the process of memory can
  be useful to police
• Psychologists can therefore advice the police
• Generally providing national advice on
  interviewing standards.
• On specific cases vulnerable witnesses (young,
  elderly, learning disabled)
• Psychologists also provide expertise in relation
  to detecting deception e.g. how do people behave
  when lying, is it possible to tell when someone
  is lying

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Case Study

• Robert is an academic who works in the field of
  criminal psychology. He specialises in the
  interviewing of vulnerable witnesses. The police
  have asked him to provide some advice in relation
  to a case.
• An adult male has been found murdered and the
  only known witness is a young boy. The police
  wish to gain as much accurate information from
  the child as possible in order to help their case
  but are unsure as to how much they can rely on
  his statement.
• The police also need advice on how best to
  approach the boy so as not to traumatise him any
  further. They therefore need the help of an
  expert in this area and contact Robert.
• Robert is able to provide advice to the police
  concerning how to build a positive relationship
  with the boy which is not so close as to warrant
  criticism for the possibility of influencing the
  child. He then advises the police to allow free
  recall from the child before then asking
  appropriate questions and achieving positive
  closure to the interview.

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Expert Witnesses

• For the presentation of information which is
  beyond the knowledge of the average lay person.
• Expert witnesses are allowed to provide their
  opinion (as opposed to the facts) on the issue
  under consideration.
• Within the UK, the expert witness is called by
  the court itself rather than the defence or
  prosecution.

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Expert Witnesses

• In the past the information a Forensic
  Psychologist could provide was limited
• Mental impairment
• Psychological functioning
• i.e. Clinical assessments
• Now increasingly recognised and can be on a
  broader range of topics
• Impact of interviewing techniques on a suspect
• Reliability of eyewitness testimony
• The use of profiling techniques within an
  investigation

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Assessment, Treatment and Management of Offenders

• Once sentenced an offender is usually under the
  supervision of either the prison or probation
  service.
• Psychologists are employed by these agencies to
• Assess offenders
• Rehabilitate offenders
• Manage offenders

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Assessment, Treatment and Management of Offenders

• Assessment
• Risk of harm
• Risk of reoffending
• Need
• Rehabilitation
• Offending behaviour programmes
• Individual sessions for specific issues
• Management
• Sentence planning
• Supervision in the community
• Provide advice to those supervising offenders

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Academia and Research

• Teaching
• BPS accredited courses
• Other related courses
• Research
• Specialisms develop over time
• Within this department
• Assessment of risk and need
• Evaluation of offending behaviour programmes
• Investigative interviewing
• Offender profiling
• Crime linkage
• Forensic Linguistics
• Stalking behaviour

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Becoming a Forensic Psychologist

• Required to undertake the Society's Diploma in
  Forensic Psychology. which is in two stages.
• Stage 1 is designed to assess the trainees
  academic knowledge base and research competence.
• Stage 2 involves structured supervised practice
  which is formally assessed by the Society.
• Two routes through the Diploma
• Successful completion of Stages 1 and 2 of the
  Society's Diploma in Forensic Psychology, or
• Successful completion of a Society accredited
  training course in forensic psychology followed
  by successful completion of Stage 2 of the
  Society's Diploma in Forensic Psychology.

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Conclusions

• Working as a Forensic Psychologist is very
  different to the public image portrayed by the
  media
• The field is wide reached and there are numerous
  roles
• Forensic Psychologists generally specialise
  within one of these roles
• Field is also competitive 25 UK Universities
  now offer accredited courses

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Any questions?

• Contact details
• Ruth Hatcher rmh12_at_le.ac.uk