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Forensic Psychology Paper

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Forensic psychology is one of the newest sub-specialties in psychology to be recognized by the American Psychological Association (APA). Due to television shows like Criminal Minds and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the career as a criminal profiler has been exemplified before our eyes as the actors create criminal profiles of the suspects that they called UNSUBs (Ward 2013). Even though these are interesting shows, they generally give us a misconception of the role of forensic psychologists. Through the development of this new aspect of psychology, a definition would be the best way to put this field into perspective. Forensic psychology is the application of psychological knowledge within the criminal justice system (Ireland 2011). A forensic …show more content…

Within the last 20 years, forensic psychology has really grown and developed. Because of the many different legal environments, this is a broad field that offers countless opportunities.
Forensic Psychology History Over the last hundred years or so, there have been several historical events that has contributed to the recognition of forensic psychology. The birth of forensic psychology began with the study of courtroom testimony. In 1893, researchers were investigating the accuracy of eye-witness testimony. Researchers found that confidence does not correlate to correctness and heightened emotions caused inaccuracy when recalling events. A German psychologist named Huge Munsterberg is considered the “father of applied psychology”. In 1908, his work on the witness stand was critical in exploring the phenomenon of false memories and why eyewitness testimony was often considered unreliable. In 1918, …show more content…

According to United States’ law, one is not held responsible for a crime if he/she does not possesses a guilty mindset during the time of the crime. Interestingly, there is no federal standard that is used to determine if someone is could qualify for an insanity plea, instead each state has their own standards. The lack of standardization allows for inconsistencies to occur. First, there are not any guidelines used across the board to standardize what is considered insane. Therefore, a suspect may be considered insane in one state, but if he/she was tried in another state they wouldn’t qualify for an insanity plea. Secondly, the forensic psychologist must determine the suspect’s state of mind at the time of the crime, not at the given moment. Therefore, they are always working in retrospective and solely relying on third-party information, collateral contacts, and written statements from the time of the crime. It is difficult to make a decision that is solely based on someone else’s point of view because it is not always 100% reliable. The idea of the insanity plea is still a very hot topic that is still being discussed in the legal system today (Ward 2013).
The field of forensic psychology is constantly evolving due to new research and better techniques that have developed. The polygraph test was created many years ago; however, it is still being analyzed and

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