...Assignment: Unit 2: Psychologists’ Roles in Criminal Justice Total Points: 100 Due Date: October 6, 2015 Name: Donna Marie Brown (Donnabrown119) Course: Intro to Forensic Psychology Instructor: Doctor Findley Unit 2: Psychologists’ Roles in Criminal Justice Kaplan University Donna Brown Tuesday, September 29, 2015 Psychologists’ Roles within the Legal System Introduction A forensic psychologist has many roles to participate in within the legal system. This would include: the basic scientists, the applied scientists, policy evaluator, and the consultant. These roles have different responsibilities and they might even help in or give attention to different areas and environments within the legal system. Within the legal system, a psychologist can examine several personalities which includes the arresting police officer to the actual victim. There are actually many ethical responsibilities and matters that can ascend. And now I will elaborate on the roles that the psychologist plays in each environment. (Greene, & Heilbrun, 2013) Basic Scientist A basic scientist engages in knowledge, and this is for its own sake. The scientist analyses an occurrence for the fulfillment of comprehending it and providing a scientific enhancement. (Greene & Hailbrun, 2013) Law Enforcement and Corrections are two opportunities of the basic scientist. As long as the psychologist has a comprehension of a specific area, psychologists can participate in educating...
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...Legal and Forensic Psychology Michael Betters Keiser University Legal and Forensic Psychology Abstract Legal and forensic psychologists are often torn between fulfilling their duties as a legal and forensic workers in the criminal justice system, and adhering to the ethical obligations to their clients as psychologists. This paper explores the dilemma faced by legal and forensic psychologists in carrying out their day-to-day roles as officials in the criminal justice system and in upholding their professional ethics as psychologists. The paper begins with an introduction of the main controversy surrounding the role of legal and forensic psychologists to the criminal justice systems (Day, 2014). It then describes some of the typical dilemmas faced by legal and forensic psychologists in the course of their work. The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of the dilemmas faced by legal and forensic psychologists in the criminal justice system. Introduction Legal and forensic psychologists are a special type of psychologists who are often charged with the responsibility of standing as expert witnesses in court proceedings. The duties, roles, and responsibilities of legal and forensic psychologists in legal matters are strikingly different from those of an ordinary psychologist. It is paramount for legal and forensic psychologists to recognize the obligations as well as the limitations of their obligations when appearing as witnesses in court proceedings...
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...Criminologist and forensic psychologists share many similarities although they have a few differences. This essay will attempt to explain these similarities and differences. Criminology is the scientific study of crime and criminals whereas forensic psychology is the interaction of the study of psychology and the law, it is also a branch of applied psychology which is concerned with the collection, examination and presentation of evidence for judicial purposes (Haward, 1953) furthermore they hold a doctorate degree in a field of psychology. The role of a criminologist is to investigate a variety of reasons to why criminals commit crimes. In order to investigate how these crimes are committed, they must consider psychological and social factors furthermore consider if any biological situations could have led the criminal to commit the crime. The role of a forensic psychologist is to provide the legal system with sound psychological information from a sound research base (Grisso, 1987). A forensic psychologist role is similar to a criminologist role to an extent that they also work with prisoners and offenders moreover they also apply the psychological theory to criminal behaviour to figure out what makes criminals commit these crimes. The premium goal of a forensic psychologist is to The first act of psychologist taking part in the justice court was in 1896 when Albert testified at the trial of Munich man accused of murdering three women. Within the United Kingdom the prison...
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...Legal Aspects of Professional Psychology “Professional psychologists study mental processes and human behavior by observing, interpreting, and recording how people and other animals relate to one another and the environment.” The psychologists express theories that have possible explanations and concentrate on an individual behavior that influence a person’s action where understanding and explaining thoughts, emotions, feelings and or behavior is in attention. However there is a legal aspect of professional psychology that is the most important part in professional practice. “Legal aspects of professional psychology cover abroad spectrum of any application of psychological ethics, and ways of understanding legal issues and questions. Additionally to the practical practices, legal aspects of psychology also include empirical or academic research on topics concerning the relationships of government laws and regulations to human behavior and mental processes”(Roger Rivera, “Legal Aspects Of Professional Psychology”). Legal issues related to informed consent and refusal Most important factor of legal issue in professional phycology is the informed consent of the client, where the doctor gets consent of the client for performing tests and medical treatments including records of the patients. It is the psychologist’s duty to offer and explain services, and if the patients have no ability for opinion, take consent from the person who has the legal power to do on behalf of the...
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...Subspecialities of Forensic Psychology: Legal Psychology and Correctional Psychology Antonella Zavala MISSOURI VALLEY COLLEGE CJ240 ABSTRACT Forensic psychology is the science that studies the individuals offender’s behavior. Forensic Science has other sciences that coordinates its goal such as Legal Psychology which will decide whether an offender is on conditions to go or not to court and correctional psychology that will follow the behavior and rehab on an offender Introduction In the show Criminal Minds on A&E, they show a dramatize version of what very few talented people do daily. Although, it is not what really happens it gives people a light overview on something that is more realistic and detailed. Solving a case, analyzing an offender takes time and a lot of research on the individual. However, their job does not finish when they catch the bad guy because that is just the beginning of a long work on rehabilitation to prevent by analyzing the motive of every offender and been able to prevent more crimes of occurring. Legal and Correctional Psychology follows the behavior of the offender during their time inside and outside the correctional with the only purpose to understand what lead them to offense in order to prevent more murders, suicide , child abuse and so on. In America, Forensic Psychology plays an important role in the Criminal Justice System, with special focus in Legal and Correctional Psychology. In the last 30 years Forensic Psychology...
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...science, however, it is concern with the application of scientific knowledge to enhance the effectiveness of organization. Researches expend psychology to experiment the science of behavior and how it can be applied within an organization. Psychology can help the organization to preform effectively, if the employee is happy at work, then the consumer will be happy, then the community will be happy as well. Organizational Psychology focus on individuals behave within an organizations and how their behavior affects the functionality of an organization. Jex and Britt (2008) stated, “Organizational Psychology is a field that utilizes scientific methodology to better understand the behavior of individuals working in organizational settings” (Ch. 1). Understanding how behavior impacts formal organizations allows improvements to be made that result in more effective functioning within organizations. The role of research and statistics in organizational psychology Research and statistics play a large role in the studies of organizational psychology. There are many methods of research and statistics used to determine information and answers to the many questions posed by organizational psychologists. When collecting data, researchers must be aware of several issues that can affect the validity of their research. Generalizing information across differing organizations can commonly lead to mistakes (Britt & ...
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...psychotherapists’ moral obligation towards the client. Its purpose is to reflect a straightforward value system, and to communicate decisional and behavioural rules with clarity To illustrate this further, the Australian Psychological Society (APS) Code of Ethics specifies ethical principles and accepted guidelines governing the psychologists’ actions and methods to make the public known of their professional practices. The ethical standards define the best practices of professionals and ensure the high quality of practice. A psychologist must bring and maintain appropriate skills and learning within her area of practice. Falling under the Prudence principle, The Code of Ethics (2007) section B.1.2 states that a psychologist may only provide psychological services within boundaries of their professional competence, where a) working within their limits of training, education, and experience and b) basing their service on established knowledge of discipline and profession of psychology. However, the psychologist concerned is specialized in clinical psychology for adults, and now is dealing with adolescents, whom are clients beyond her scope of expertise. This raises the issue of limited professional competence. Nonetheless, rural regions often see a high demand due to lack of specialists normally found in urban locations. A change to the rural location brings pressure toward the psychologist to practice beyond their capability. The ethical trap possibilities lay in the fact that her...
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...The duties of a correctional Psychologist Donterise L. Anderson Saint Leo University Abstract An increasing rate of violation of crimes characterizes the current global environment. Different forms of violence and aggression, including drug trafficking and abuse, robbery, and rape cases among other forms of violence necessitates the need for analyzing the roles of a correctional psychologist. The special roles played by the correctional psychologists such as providing environments that improve the safety of the staff and inmates, psychological services, inmate management, and conducting an evaluation of the inmate/prison population and its influence on inmates’ health necessitated the study into the topic. In addition, the fact that the correctional psychology has numerous ethical dilemmas and conflicts makes it wanting to study the topic. Introduction Today, corrections are a complex, high profile operation, which consumes a significant portion of the federal operating budget. This paper will concentrate on the duties of a correctional psychologist. The paper begins with an overview of legal issues pertinent to psychological concepts and legal rights of inmates. We then examine the practice of forensic psychology in the correctional environment. Legal issues This section describes the common legal issues facing psychologists working in correctional facilities. The issues...
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...Legal Aspects of Professional Psychology Michael Lampe May 06, 2013 There are many factors that can affect a professional in the field of psychology. Some of these factors may be ethical issues and some may have legal issues. These two issues may seem similar. However, they are very different. American Psychological Association (APA) Ethics Code can help clear up any problems with ethical issues. The legal issues are not as easy to see or find the correct answers. Legal issues can be separated into two categories, legislation and litigation. Legislation concerns governmental bodies passing laws. Litigation is laws that are formed by the rule of the law. There are legal issues related to informed consent, assessment, testing, diagnosis, and confidentiality. These issues will be discussed and the influence of legislation on the field of psychology will be evaluated. Competency will also be covered. Informed Consent Informed consent is a legal and ethical term defined as the consent by a client to a proposed medical or psychotherapeutic procedure, or for participation in a research project or clinical study. In order for the consent to be informed the client must first achieve a clear understanding of the relevant facts, risks and benefits, and available alternatives involved. Informed consent requires legal documentation in all 50 states. The concept of informed consent originated with the recognition that individuals have rights: to freedom, autonomy and human dignity...
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...Forensic psychology is concerned with how psychology applies to the criminal justice system. Psychologists interested in this line of applied work may be found working in prisons, jails, rehabilitation centers, police departments, law firms, schools, government agencies. They may work directly with attorneys, defendants, offenders, victims or with patients within the state's corrections or rehabilitation centers. So i’m gonna focus on the role of psychology that shaped the jail policies. One of the event that changed the way people were treated in prisons for the last 25-30 years was the stanford prison experiment. Stanford experiment was conducted in 1973 by craig haney and Philip zimbardo. A group of healthy, normal college students were temporily but dramatically transformed in the course of six days spent in a prison like environment. Emotionally strong college students, they suffered acute psychological trauma and breakdowns. The guards too who also had been carefully chosen on the basis of their normal average scores on variety of personal measures quickly internalized their randomly assigned role. The goal in conducting the SPE was to extend that basic perspective- emphasizing the potency of social situations. The study represented an experimental demonstration of the extraordinary power of institutional environments to influence those who passed through them. The behavior of the prisoners and guards in the simulated environment had a remarkable similarity to patterns...
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...Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the medical community, new issues arise for psychologists in keeping documented records of patient visits. Confidentiality limits have broadened, making use of the electronic medical record more complicated for the psychologist practitioner, particularly when serving as part of a multidisciplinary team. As the electronic medical record (EMR) has become more prevalent in multiple settings, various researchers have examined the effectiveness of this record keeping system, with a focus on improving patient outcomes. The risks and benefits of implementing an EMR will be discussed, focusing on specific considerations for psychologists in regard to confidentiality and interdisciplinary collaboration. Keywords: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), electronic medical record (EMR), confidentiality How much information is appropriate to place in an electronic medical record (EMR), especially when that record is accessible to professionals throughout an organization (i.e., a hospital setting)? This question has become an important topic of discussion and research as EMRs become more prevalent in larger institutions, such as academic medical centers and community mental health centers. With the implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), psychologists find themselves facing the struggle of how to best improve treatment through multidisciplinary collaboration...
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...Psychology: Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics. Comparative Psychology: Comparative psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the study of animal behavior. Modern research on animal behavior began with the work of Charles Darwin and Georges Romanes and has continued to grow into a multidisciplinary subject. Today, biologists, psychologists, anthropologists, ecologists, geneticists and many others contribute to the study of animal behavior. Counseling Psychology: Counseling psychology focuses on providing therapeutic treatments to clients who experience a wide variety of symptoms. It is also one of the largest specialty areas within psychology. The Society of Counseling Psychology describes the field as " a psychological specialty [that] facilitates personal and interpersonal functioning across the life span with a focus on emotional, social, vocational, educational, health-related, developmental and organizational concerns." Developmental Psychology: This branch of psychology looks at development throughout the lifespan, from childhood to adulthood. The scientific study of human development seeks to understand and explain how and why people change throughout...
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...Analysis of the Roles in the Process of Criminal Trial The Court’s Administration: An Analysis of the Roles in the Process of Criminal Trial Criminal procedure is the process of investigating, prosecuting, and punishing crimes (Scheb & Sharma, 2013). Criminal procedure includes law enforcement activities, including the arrest, interrogation, and identification of suspects. Criminal procedure also involves a process of criminal trial, in which a person is tried for their crime. The trial process can be extensive, but criminal charges can also be settled in the pretrial process. The pretrial process largely determines the outcome of a criminal case; most criminal cases never make it to trial. Charges against the defendant may be dropped or dismissed due to a lack of evidence. The defendant may also plead guilty without trial. Many guilty pleas result from plea negotiations between the prosecutors and defendant or defense attorneys. This pretrial process makes a formal criminal trial unnecessary (Scheb & Sharma, 2013). There are various roles in the criminal trial process, including the judge, the prosecuting attorneys, the jury, and the expert witnesses such as forensic psychologists. The assortment of roles has a high effect on the outcome for the defendant. A prosecutor is responsible for determining what charges to pursue and whether to plea bargain with the defendant. A jury decides a verdict. A judge decides a sentence. A forensic psychologist can influence all...
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... Organizational Psychology As organizations began to grow and expand their services to a global level, the growing number of business competitors who offer the same services and products becomes greater. Organizational psychologists play an important role in an organization and can be beneficial to the organizations success, regardless of its size. Organizational psychologist can produce ideas that are fresh and innovative through the research and scientific study of individual and group behavior in the workplace. One step deemed to be important in understanding the individuals within an organization is to understand their behavior. How individuals behave in the workplace influence their lives, the lives of their co-workers, and the life and success of the organization. The purpose of this paper is to define organizational psychology, explain the role that research and statistics play, and describe how organizational psychology may be used in an organizational setting. Definition of Organizational Psychology “Organizational psychology is concerned with analyzing the external and internal system dynamics that maximize performance excellence of individual and work groups in an organization” (University of Phoenix, 2010). The goal of organizational psychology is to raise performance levels, enhance fairness and equality, improve processes and relationships, and increase the...
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...Psychology is a huge topic and conveying the depth and breadth of the subject can be difficult. As a result, a number of different fields of psychology have emerged to deal with specific subtopics within the study of the mind, brain and behavior. Most general and introductory psychology courses cover many of these fields of psychology. As you delve deeper into the subject, you’ll soon find courses offered in each individual area. Each field of psychology represents a specific area of study focused on a particular topic. Oftentimes, psychologists specialize in one of these areas as a career. The following are just some of the major fields of psychology. For many of these specialty areas, additional graduate study in that particular field is required. * Abnormal Psychology: Abnormal psychology is a field of psychology that deals with psychopathology and abnormal behavior. The term covers a broad range of disorders, from depression to obsession-compulsion to sexual deviation and many more. Counselors, clinical psychologists and psychotherapists often work directly in this field. * Biopsychology: Biopsychology is a field of psychology that analyzes how the brain and neurotransmitters influence our behaviors, thoughts and feelings. This field can be thought of as a combination of basic psychology and neuroscience. * Clinical Psychology: Clinical psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the assessment and treatment of mental illness, abnormal behavior...
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