A total of 3719 articles appearing in five key generalist forensic psychology journals (n = 1374) and six more specialist targeted forensically related journals (n = 2345) between 2015 and 2020 were ...subject to a bibliometric analysis to reveal trends in research topics, populations studied, jurisdiction, and research methods employed. Research on offenders dominated and over half of all the papers were located in North American jurisdictions. About a third of papers made explicit reference to diversity and two thirds of research designs employed quantitative methodologies. The discussion features comments on changing trends over time from forensic psychology's initial narrow focus on witness testimony to its current broader remit, and the different coverage between targeted and generalist journals. The conclusion offers some reflections for future forensic psychology.
Ethnic and cultural traits in psychiatric evaluations of defendants This article explains the role and significance of ethnic and cultural traits in forensic psychiatric and psychological evaluations ...of defendants. These evaluations focus on the defendant’s criminal responsibility (legal insanity), the risk of recidivism, and advice about the sanction to be imposed. There is an overrepresentation of defendants with an immigrant background in the criminal justice system, while research indicates that cultural and ethnic traits play a significant role in behavioral evaluations of defendants. In this article is discussed to what extent cultural considerations are part of those evaluations, and how they play a role in the expert’s reasoning and the advisement of the criminal court.
The perspective of the expert and the assessment of conscience The GGD report states that 99% of the Top 600 juvenile offenders have a lacunar conscience. But what is conscience from a clinical ...perspective, what type of information does the clinician or rapporteur gather and how is it described? The department of forensic ortho-pedagogy of the University of Amsterdam is developing an instrument with which behavioral scientists can make a descriptive diagnosis of the conscience in a structured manner. For the construction of the instrument the experiential knowledge of Dutch clinical experts in the field of conscience is collected. By means of qualitative research methods, a number of domains and methods were identified that are considered important for the diagnostics of conscience. Based on the current study and state-of-the-art scientific literature, a clinical structured judgment instrument is realized in which the clinician is describing the domains of empathy, self-aware emotions such as shame and guilt, and moral development a form a strength-weakness analysis of the conscience.
Dictionary of Forensic Psychology Towl, Graham; Farrington, David P; Crighton, David ...
2008, 20130905, 2011, 2013-09-05, 20080101
eBook
Over the past decade, forensic psychology has grown rapidly as a subject, with an increasing number of forensic psychologists working in demanding roles in prisons, secure training facilities, and ...high, medium and low security healthcare facilities as well as other parts of the criminal justice system. This Dictionary is designed to meet the needs of both students and practitioners. It contains approximately 100 entries on key terms and concepts, arranged alphabetically and contributed by leading academic and practicing forensic psychologists.
The present article focuses on a utility-based understanding of criminal justice practice regarding eyewitness identifications. We argue that there are 4 distinct types of utility that should be ...considered when evaluating an identification procedure. These include the utility associated with all identifications, the utility associated with only the high confidence identifications, the average utility across the full range of identifications, and the maximum utility that can be attained by selecting an ideal criterion. We show that in almost all cases in which the difference between 2 procedures is defined by a tradeoff between increased guilty suspect IDs and increased innocent suspect IDs, current ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curve approaches fail to provide unambiguous information about which eyewitness identification procedures are best in practice. We introduce a novel graphical technique called utility difference curves that illustrates the impact that differential assumptions about base rates and cost structures have on the likely benefits of different identification procedures. The research emphasizes the importance of considering assumptions about base rates and costs associated with different types of eyewitness errors. We also clarify situations in which the outcome of eyewitness experiments are unambiguous and those in which careful consideration of tradeoffs are necessary.
Public Significance Statement
Some eyewitness identification procedures that decrease false identifications may also decrease correct identifications. We developed a way of evaluating such tradeoffs by taking into account societal assumptions about how good or bad the different possible outcomes are (e.g., a guilty person goes free, an innocent person goes to jail) and how commonly lineups contain guilty suspects. The research should aid policymakers in evaluating scientific research on eyewitness identification procedures.
In this special issue, invited authors with expertise in correctional and forensic psychology (and related disciplines) were offered an opportunity to reflect on the idea of practice frameworks given ...their own research interests, expertise and practice experiences. In this article we provide a commentary on these contributions with the view of further developing the idea of ‘practice frameworks’ in a way which can better help guide theoretical work, empirical research, and practice in the correctional domain. We begin by reflecting on the nature of practice frameworks and why we think that they are important. We then consider each of the three levels that comprise practice frameworks and how these elements are realized in the diverse practice frameworks considered by the contributors to this special issue. We conclude with some thoughts about some important future directions for the idea of practice frameworks.
Previous research suggests that individuals with increased sadistic traits may seek out opportunities to exercise cruelty towards others. This study extends research which has examined the emotional ...processing of individuals with increased sadistic traits. Results showed that all dark traits were significantly correlated with experiencing positive emotion in response to violent stimuli. This study also examined the relationship between sadism and the temperamental traits of the behavioural inhibition and approach systems. Results suggest that sadism could be understood as a high-approach low-avoidance temperamental trait. A structural equation model predicting emotional processing was constructed; a direct pathway was found between sadism and positive emotional responding to violent stimuli and lack of negative emotion to violent stimuli, over and above latent dark tetrad antagonism. Dark tetrad traits were predictive of a deficit in BIS-Anxiety. Implications of these findings are discussed.
•All dark traits correlated with experiencing positive emotion to violent stimuli.•Enjoyment and amusement to violent stimuli held strongest correlation with sadism.•All dark traits except Machiavellianism responded negatively to peaceful stimuli.•Sadism could be explained in terms of low BIS and high BIS sensitivity.•SEM constructed using Dark Tetrad and BIS/BAS, to predict emotional processing.
A Hierarchy of Expert Performance Dror, Itiel E.
Journal of applied research in memory and cognition,
06/2016, Letnik:
5, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Expert performance can be quantified by examining reliability and biasability between and within experts, and teasing apart their observations from their conclusions. I utilize these parameters to ...develop a Hierarchy of Expert Performance (HEP) that includes eight distinct levels. Using this hierarchy I evaluate and quantify the performance of forensic experts, a highly specialized domain that plays a critical role in the criminal justice system. Evaluating expert performance within HEP enables the identification of weaknesses in expert performance, and enables the comparison of experts across domains. HEP also provides theoretical and applied insights into expertise.
Clinicians are not trained to work within the legal system, and the thought of becoming professionally involved in it can cause much anxiety. In this article, we select common examples from civil, ...criminal, family, and immigration law where practitioners may find themselves unintentionally involved in legal proceedings, and how they may avoid or cope with them in a professional manner. We conclude with general recommendations.
Clinical Impact StatementClinical practitioners are generally not familiar with forensic work or the rules that govern it. When they find themselves involved in legal matters, they can become distressed and may be prone to errors. We discuss common scenarios where these situations may arise and offer concrete recommendations regarding their management.
