Preview

Forensic Psychologists In The Criminal Justice System

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1353 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Forensic Psychologists In The Criminal Justice System
Forensic Psychologists are an important part in the justice system. They evaluate whether defendants are fit to stand trial and whether they were in sound mind at the time they carried out said wrongdoings. At times, authorities may likewise request that they survey the psychological well-being of detainees on death row. Prisoners who are insane can't be executed.
In every criminal trial, it's up to the jury to choose quilt or innocence. Still, a psychologists’ evaluation can affect the result of a trial. This places them in a position which will defiantly effect an individual for life. On the chance that they affirm that a defendant was mental when he or she carried out a violent crime, the accused will usually be put in a mental facility. On the chance that the defendant was of sound mind, that individual will usually be sentenced to death.
…show more content…
Others contend that from a societal viewpoint the guilty party damaged the human privileges of the victim(s) and in this way should be considered responsible. The American legitimate framework, reflecting popular sentiment, holds that capital punishment in essence is not a human rights infringement. The U.S. Justice Court has held that capital punishment is not savage and uncommon discipline (Gregg v. Georgia, 1976), even while narrowing the relevance of capital punishment in specific circumstances (Atkins v. Virginia, 2002; Roper v. Simmons, 2005). The American legal system, reflecting public opinion, holds that the death penalty per se is not a human rights violation. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the death penalty is not cruel and unusual punishment (Gregg v. Georgia, 1976), even while narrowing the applicability of the death penalty in certain situations (Atkins v. Virginia, 2002; Roper v. Simmons,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Facts: Gregg argues that capital punishment is cruel and unusual, so it violates his constitutional rights protected under the Eighth Amendment. In 1972 the U.S, Supreme Court ruled in Furman v. Georgia, that the death penalty couldn’t be used in an arbitrary manner, in any state.…

    • 292 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Case AnalysisAngela RosadoProfessional & Ethical Issues in Forensic PsychOctober 15, 2014Mary McGreevyCase Analysis “In Vignette 3, an inmate is incarcerated due to a history of violent behavior(s). While in prison the inmate was known as being a “model prisoner”. Now that the inmate is scheduled for a parole hearing, the warden believes the inmate possesses the propensity to commit a violent crime if released, and “requests that a psychologists/psychiatrist evaluate the inmate using psychological tests”. The warden has requested that the evaluator commit a known Ethical and Statutory violations, so that he may keep the inmate in prison and that the inmate’s parole request be denied”…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Most people inhibit morals and hold different classes of ethics, which plays heavily in choosing between right and wrong or fair and unfair. These decisions grow more difficult as time goes on. When considering which Supreme Court case I wanted to research, the thought of picking the death penalty topic originally swayed me. I did not want to pick such a controversial subject, but I grew more and more intrigued as I read deeper into the case of Gregg vs. Georgia in 1976. The case stirred up many views about capital punishment and allowing a criminal to manipulate the wording of our country’s Constitution to refuse personal responsibility. Throughout the research and trying to form an opinion of the case, I wondered if the death penalty is:…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    “Statistics suggest that, with one in 5 adults, and 27 per cent of young Australians, suffering some form of mental illness, current mental health funding is unable to cater for all mental health needs, forcing prisons to become the new mental health institutions.”…

    • 3560 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    There has been a great deal of controversy over whether or not the the death penalty should be abolished. There had been many supreme cases involving the death penalty. people view the death penalty as cruel because it seems excessive or as in inescapable consequence of death. There’s also the belief that the death penalty defers murder because people fear death. Society has developed more humane ways of carried out capital punishment. Furman v. Georgia and Gregg v. Georgia are two significant cases that change the view of the issues that related to the death penalty which are racial discrimination, mentally impaired, juveniles, due process and lethal injection.…

    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Us Law

    • 787 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Nonetheless, in today's insanity cases, mental health experts, doctors, and scientists have important roles to play. They can inform the jury of the nature of the defendant's mental illness, the likeliness that the crime might be repeated, and whether the…

    • 787 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Furman V Georgia

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages

    For these and other reasons, at least two of my Brothers have concluded that the infliction of the death penalty is constitutionally impermissible in all circumstances under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Their case is a strong one. But I find it unnecessary to reach the ultimate question they would decide. See Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 297 U.S. 288, 347 (Brandeis, J., concurring).…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    8th Amendment Essay

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution has generated a considerable amount of debate and controversy surrounding the question: what is considered “cruel and unusual punishment.” The important issue that develops from this amendment is whether or not the death penalty is constitutional. Over the decades, the Supreme Court fails to completely confront the issue by refusing to address any issue that falls outside of the case in question. As a result, today’s court is left with many specific instances where the death penalty is acceptable or unconstitutional, but not an overall principle that the death penalty is consistent or inconsistent with the Constitution. In Roper v. Simmons, seventeen year-old Christopher Simmons is tried as an adult…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    8th Amendment Essay

    • 2118 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Georgia case that the death penalty did, in fact, not violate the Eighth Amendment and therefore was constitutional.6 However, the Supreme Court began to put major restrictions on the death penalty by implementing procedures such as requiring that there be separate trials for conviction of a capital crime and for determining a punishment. In addition the Courts placed a mandatory appellate review of both the conviction and punishment7. Still a part of the American penal system to this day, the death penalty remains a controversial issue that continually faces various…

    • 2118 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    This paper examines psychological profiling, and the profiling process. It also discusses the history and emergence of profiling as a technique in the criminal justice system. An outline of serial killers Jack the Ripper and the murders committed by Ted Bundy are also analyzed to determine the types of profiling used in the investigation process. It also determines if profiling is an effective tool in investigations. There is also a distinguish between legitimate profiling in real life versus profiling offered by the media such as novels, and movies. Profiling is defined and analyzed in this paper in comparison to two notorious serial killers that lived during different eras to determine the advancement and techniques of profiling in criminal cases.…

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Psychopathy In Psychology

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Psychopathy is a personality disorder, mainly characterized by a lack of remorse or empathy, and is highly associated with antisocial behavior alongside other symptoms (Pozzulo, 301). Research shows that psychopathy can develop during childhood and adolescence (Pozzulo, 314). Psychologists are able to present to court the most probable criminal behavior of an young offender, as well as how specific models of psychopathy should be addressed, and how the offender should be punished including specific aspect of the sentence. However, psychologists’ expert testimonies labeling an offender as psychopath can lead to biased jurors’ sentences. Moreover, psychology is far from a perfect science and therefore contains many contradictions on psychopathy…

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The cases of Brendan Dassey and Daryl Atkins demonstrate the roles of forensic psychologists in the court of law. Notably, the case of Brendan Dassey illustrates how a teen who had intellectual deficits was coerced into a confession (Nirider, Tepfer, & Drizin, 2012). Moreover, the case of Daryl Atkins exhibits an individual who was intellectually disabled and sentenced to death. Both these cases demonstrate some of the roles that forensic psychologists may play in police interrogations and court. In the case of Dassey, eyewitness identification procedures conducted by police were questionable and led to a false confession. Similarly, in Atkin’s case, the question of whether…

    • 1558 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    This paper will be split into four parts and focus on psychological profiling throughout in order to give a more in depth analysis. The first part of this paper will give a brief analysis of psychological profiling and review the concerned literature, whilst explaining the effects that profiling has on miscarriages of justice. The second part will look at the ways the psychological profiling helps to avoid miscarriages of justice. However, due to the shortage of literature, the paper will evaluate a number of relevant cases. The third part of this paper proposes suggestions for future research; it will then summarise and…

    • 2565 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Best Essays

    Mentally Disordered Offender

    • 3371 Words
    • 14 Pages

    Mercer D., Mason T., McKeown M., McCann G (2003) Forensic Mental Health Care. Elservier Science Limited.…

    • 3371 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Criminal Personality

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Stanton Samehow and Samuel Yochelson did a study on the personality of criminals and called it the Criminal Personality study. Yochelson had four objectives for this study “they were to(1) understand the personality makeup of the criminal, (2) to establish technique that could be used to alter the personality disorders that produce crime, (3) to encourage an understanding of legal responsibility and (4) to establish techniques that can be effective in preventing criminal behavior.” (Samenow). The study had two hundred and fifty- five participants and their backgrounds varied as well as their race, culture, and class status. The study had participants that were confined to the hospital that were found to be insane, as well as criminals that were not confined to a hospital. “they began their work believing that crooks were the maladjusted products of bad environments. But after probing the psyches of hundreds of inmates, they decided that the criminals weren't sick, they were just very good at manipulating psychologists. Convinced that classic psychiatry was wasted on these men, they devised a therapeutic technique designed to force criminals to confront their behavior realistically” (Biema, 1984). The participants were offered therapy as a possibility to be relived from their punishments. Samenow and Yochelson both trained in the Freudian school of psychoanalysis. “The first four years of the criminal personality project involved rigorous psychodynamic therapeutic practices with the offender subjects.” (Samenow).…

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics