https://youtu.be/dOBSYw4KjYg
Forensic Psychology:
The Real World of CSI
Forensic Psychology is the application of psychological science within the legal system. Dr. Jeffery Kieliszewski a human resource analyst, broke down the basics of what exactly a forensic psychologist does in the real world. There are many different paths that involve forensics, such as Forensic Pathologist who conduct autopsies on presumed victims or attackers, Forensic Scientist who study blood spatter and D.N.A., Forensic Dentists who study bite marks or missing teeth to identify to victims and attackers, Forensic Accountants that are hired by police when you are arrested for fraud to check your books and logging. All of these topics are linked in with the legal system and involve forensic science. The roles of a forensic psychologist are clinician, consultant, and treator. Each role provides a different skill set and are used for different cases. A little back information about forensic psychology. About 100 years ago, psychologist wrote up thoughts they had or theories that were not yet facts, and publish them in books. When other psychologist got ahold of these writings they would try to prove or disprove the thoughts of that psychologist to make them facts or theories. In this came a psychologist by the name of Hugo Münsterberg. Hugo was a famous psychologist in Germany who wrote a book called “On the witness stand”. The book was about multiple theories, some of which were about people who make false confessions or people hypnotized in a crime. About 20 years ago there was a series of cases where children were revealing to police officers and therapists that they were being sexually assaulted by their day care facilities. To come to find out the children were under hypnosis and the accusations were false. These different instances are explained in great detail in his book. Before the 1970’s instances where defendants would use an insanity plea were rare. It started up in the late 1970’s where lawyers would use the insanity plea. A insanity plea, is a defense by excuse in criminal trials arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to an episodic or persistent psychiatric illness. The reason defendants and lawyers use this plea is because when the defendant is “incompetent” to stand trial the prosecutors cannot take them to court. This is where the forensic psychologist steps in and writes an analysis on why the defendant can or cannot stand trial. They explain in depth on how this illness could affect his/her actions. This is when the legal and psychology intertwine. The forensic psychologist applies principles of psychology to a particular legal statute. What a good forensic psychologist does, is go through courses that lawyers go through, they read a lot of case law. Reading case law helps them learn how to interpret statutes to a certain degree. Court judges interpret statutes, but they have to comprehend what they’re looking at and they have to know what questions to answer in court. This relates to how the defendant reacted or is reacting to the past or current situations. In this means they have to judge someone based on previous or present actions, what their mental capacity is and if they are mentally fit to comprehend the incidents that took place. During this lecture I learned the many different components that take place in forensic psychology, some of which are knowing and understanding how the human mind works, how sane or insane someone is, based on the actions that take place, and how to make a logical conclusion based off of your knowledge of previous/past incidents and to understand the human brains mental capacity.
Forensic Psychology:
The Real World of CSI
Forensic Psychology is the application of psychological science within the legal system. Dr. Jeffery Kieliszewski a human resource analyst, broke down the basics of what exactly a forensic psychologist does in the real world. There are many different paths that involve forensics, such as Forensic Pathologist who conduct autopsies on presumed victims or attackers, Forensic Scientist who study blood spatter and D.N.A., Forensic Dentists who study bite marks or missing teeth to identify to victims and attackers, Forensic Accountants that are hired by police when you are arrested for fraud to check your books and logging. All of these topics are linked in with the legal system and involve forensic science. The roles of a forensic psychologist are clinician, consultant, and treator. Each role provides a different skill set and are used for different cases. A little back information about forensic psychology. About 100 years ago, psychologist wrote up thoughts they had or theories that were not yet facts, and publish them in books. When other psychologist got ahold of these writings they would try to prove or disprove the thoughts of that psychologist to make them facts or theories. In this came a psychologist by the name of Hugo Münsterberg. Hugo was a famous psychologist in Germany who wrote a book called “On the witness stand”. The book was about multiple theories, some of which were about people who make false confessions or people hypnotized in a crime. About 20 years ago there was a series of cases where children were revealing to police officers and therapists that they were being sexually assaulted by their day care facilities. To come to find out the children were under hypnosis and the accusations were false. These different instances are explained in great detail in his book. Before the 1970’s instances where defendants would use an insanity plea were rare. It started up in the late 1970’s where lawyers would use the insanity plea. A insanity plea, is a defense by excuse in criminal trials arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to an episodic or persistent psychiatric illness. The reason defendants and lawyers use this plea is because when the defendant is “incompetent” to stand trial the prosecutors cannot take them to court. This is where the forensic psychologist steps in and writes an analysis on why the defendant can or cannot stand trial. They explain in depth on how this illness could affect his/her actions. This is when the legal and psychology intertwine. The forensic psychologist applies principles of psychology to a particular legal statute. What a good forensic psychologist does, is go through courses that lawyers go through, they read a lot of case law. Reading case law helps them learn how to interpret statutes to a certain degree. Court judges interpret statutes, but they have to comprehend what they’re looking at and they have to know what questions to answer in court. This relates to how the defendant reacted or is reacting to the past or current situations. In this means they have to judge someone based on previous or present actions, what their mental capacity is and if they are mentally fit to comprehend the incidents that took place. During this lecture I learned the many different components that take place in forensic psychology, some of which are knowing and understanding how the human mind works, how sane or insane someone is, based on the actions that take place, and how to make a logical conclusion based off of your knowledge of previous/past incidents and to understand the human brains mental capacity.