Forensic psychology Flashcards
(22 cards)
What is forensic psychology
Intersection between law and psychology. Anywhere Psychological theories can be applied to law. Civil and criminal Understand criminal Justic process. Who will be involved in crime, what are the best ways to teat offenders. How victims are affected?
What is criminal psychology
The study of crime and delinquency. Topics include understanding why people commit crime, and risk factors that predict the likelihood of reoffending.
What is investigative psychology
Focuses on the criminal investigative process. Includes criminal profiling, eyewitness memory, investigative interviewing, and lie detection
What is police psychology
Focuses on the work and wellbeing of police officers. Includes selection of police officers, public perceptions of police, and the psychological effects of policing.
What is legal psychology
Focuses on legal proceedings. Includes expert witness testimony, jury decision-making, and determining insanity.
What is correctional psychology
Focuses on offender rehabilitation and reintegration. Includes use of treatment and educational programs.
What are the two key areas of forensic psychology
Research
Professional practice
Why is eyewitness evidence so important
Might be the only evidence therefore what the witness says is very important. Could lead to wrongful conviction. Need to understand factors that affect someone’s memory
What happened to Andrew Mallard
charged and convicted of the murder of Perth jewellery shop owner
However, 12 years later, his conviction was overturned after new evidence came to light
Andrew Mallard was therefore wrongfully convicted.
How was Andrew Mallard convicted of a crime he didn’t commit
erroneous eyewitness testimony and false confession – are examples of psychological factors that contributed to his conviction. T They involve psychological processes, such as memory, reasoning, decision-making, and social influence/compliance.
Witnesses implicated Mallard not initially but later.
Mallard used information given to him by the police to make a false confession
What are the most common factors in wrongful convictions
mistaken eyewitness identifications (present in 69% of cases) and false confessions (present in 29% of cases).
What are the two outcomes dangerous of getting a risk assessment for reoffending wrong
False negative - individual commits serious crime
False positive - individual stripped of rights
Why is it important to question eyewitnesses in the right way
even the simple wording of a question can greatly impacts upon how eyewitnesses remember events. eg. the car bumped, the car smashed
What is important about the cognitive interview
discourages the use of closed-ended, leading questions.
Instead, investigators are encouraged to ask open-ended and non-leading questions (e.g., “tell me everything that happened”).
How can psychological research help in forensic psychology
Helps us understand how psychological factors affect the criminal process and what we need to change to make the process more accurate to lessen wrongful convictions.
Why are there such low numbers of people that raise the ‘insanity defence’
The mental illness must impact on someone judgement, his or her cognitive capacity. Only a few mwntal illnesses qualify as mental illness under criminal law. .
What is the issue with the M’Naghten Rules as a test for insanity in New South Wales:
Criminal law assumes everyone is sane and responible for their actions. If they lack the capacity for reason they cannot be held responible
When was the M’Naghten rule commenced when did it finish
Commenced in 1843. Replaced in 2020 by the new criteria
What is the insanity defence
If someone is mentally unwell such that they were not aware that what they did was wrong they can raise this defence and be sent to a secure psychiatric unit in a prison
How do the M’Naghten rules differ from the new criteria
M’Naghten rules suggest that you are not guity by reason of mental illness and you have a defect of reason and disesae of the mind. New criteria suggest that you have a mental health/cognitive impairment and where not aware the act was wrong.
Give an example where advances in psychological knowledge and understanding can result in changes to the law or processes
M’Naghten rules changed
Open ended questions in interviews
