Criminal Justice Psychologist Role

This essay will access the roles of psychologist in the criminal justice system and how they help defendant’s, witnesses, prosecution, defense, judges and juries. It will also concentrate on the exercises of an applied scientist, basic scientist, policy evaluator and advocate; experts who produce and communicate information to answer particular legal inquiries or to aid in legal disputes; and how these are applied to law enforcement, courts, and corrections. Most forensic psychologist are frequently requested that assess a person and prepare a report for a court, and to also provide an expert testimony in a trial or hearing.
The study of psychology in law develops the roles in the criminal justice system. A psychologist who works in the criminal
justice field may end up working in law enforcement, corrections or in the court system, each of these three fields incorporates different aspects of the legal system. The psychologist in the criminal justice field studies the offenders, victims, law enforcement employees, jurors, expert witnesses, prison guards, judges and parole officers. The examination discoveries of a psychologist will have an impact on all these fields in the legal system, and this obligation accompanies the need to take after strict moral rules while, creating and conveying exact data to clarify particular legal circumstances or settle legal differences. This essay will explore the roles of a psychology and how it impacts law enforcement, corrections and court system.
The roles of a psychologist include: a basic scientist, applied scientist, policy evaluator and an advocate psychologist. A basic scientist can be characterized as a person who seeks to learn knowledge for their own benefit. (Green & Heilbrun, 2014) These scientist study for the satisfaction of understanding and enhancing the scientific advances, they don't however, seek to apply any of their research discoveries and have no interest on whether or not it will help the world resolve real world issues. (Green & Heilbrun, 2014) For instance, research on visual perception can enable psychologist to determine whether or not an eyewitness's testimony is factual. The basic research on social attitudes and behavior can determine why people follow the law and why others don't and can also determine why juveniles commit petty offenses. In addition, research can also help assess whether forensic psychologist demeanors about the causes of crime influence their expert assessments of criminal defendants. (Green & Heilbrun, 2014) An advocate psychologist is hired by either prosecution or defense to assist in matter involving the case such as: prepare briefing papers, congressional affirmations, and reactions to proposed government organization directions, and leading formal congressional briefings. ("APA Advocacy", 2016) For instance, a trial consultant can gather information in regards to members of the jury, determine community attitudes and help lawyer with trial techniques.
An applied scientist is devoted to applying knowledge to solve real life issues and will serve as an expert witness in legislative hearing or in a courtroom. (Green & Heilbrun, 2014) Expert witnesses are people who possess knowledge about a particular field, in which is not information that the normal individual would possess and applies it to a case. When psychologist testify in court as an expert witness they use their experience, intelligence and training to provide an opinion to judges and jurors based on knowledge obtain throughout the case. (Green & Heilbrun, 2014) Most judges have disallowed expert witness testimony from psychologist and deemed it as irrelevant. Consider the instance of unfortunate case of Pedro Gil, in the fall of 1993 Pedro hoisted a bucket over a building and it fell seven stories, killing an officer who was standing in the street. (Green & Heilbrun, 2014) Pedro Gil thought the bucket would just drop to the ground without hitting anyone and to support this belief his attorney attempted to present the testimony of psychologist who is an expert in intuitive physics, Michael McCloskey. The judge hearing the case didn’t not allow Michael McCloskey to testify because he believed that intuitive physics wasn’t irrelevant to the issues under contention, thus convicting Pedro Gil of second-degree manslaughter. (Green & Heilbrun, 2014)
Policy evaluators apply evaluation principles and methods to examine the content, implementation or impact of a policy and is the activity through which one develops an understanding of the merit, worth, and utility of a policy.
(Evaluating Violence and Injury Prevention Policies, 2016) In the criminal justice system, policy evaluators provide the answers to whether or not the policy’s implemented are being enforced, and whether or not it’s effective. The psychologist who works as a policy evaluator may be approached about whether changing the laws for adolescent drivers by limiting the quantity of travelers, they can have in a vehicle, will diminish car crashes, or whether the changing from vehicle patrols to foot patrols will improve the relationships between the community and the police departments. (Green & Heilbrun, 2014) Psychologist have been included in evaluating policies in regards to the utilization of long haul regulatory isolation in detainment facilities, normally inmates are in administrative isolation; 23-hour lock-down for abusing jail rules by selling drugs, getting into physical altercations, or getting involved with gang activity. (Green & Heilbrun, 2014) The Colorado Department of Corrections led a study to figure out if detainees in regulatory isolation would encounter more prominent mental disintegration than a correlation bunch housed inside of general population and they discovered that change over time on that these variables are not related to
confinement conditions. (Green & Heilbrun, 2014) In conclusion, psychology has numerous roles in criminal justice system, which are applied scientist, basic scientist, policy evaluator and advocate.
All these roles in psychology help influence law enforcement, corrections and the courts. The main function of a psychologist is to use knowledge obtain to provide insight on a specific case or specific person. Thus, helping shape the criminal justice system, whether it’s providing expert opinion in court, helping change or enforce policy, advocating, determining someone’s mental
state.