Brief History of Forensic

Psychology
1908

Hugo Munsterberg publishes On the Witness Stand

1917

William Marston develops first modern polygraph

1921

State v. Driver: First time a psychologist testifies as

an expert witness in an American court

1922

William Marston becomes the first faculty member in

forensic psychology (American University)

1931

Howard Burtt publishes Legal Psychology, the first

forensic psychology text book

1968

Martin Reiser becomes first full-time police

psychologist (LAPD)

2001

APA recognizes forensic psychology as a specialty

Forensic Psychology An Introduction

Criminal Psychology is the study of criminal
behaviour (Howitt, 2009). The term forensic
is generally used to refer to psychologists who
work with offenders, and/or victims of crime.
Forensic psychology is concerned with the
application of psychological principles within
the judicial system, as it examines the
interface
between
criminal
justice
and
psychology.
Wrightsman
(2001)
regards
forensic
psychology
as
any
application
of
psychological knowledge or methods to a task
faced by the
legal system.
Forensic Psychology
4

What Forensic Psychology is

NOT.
Forensic
Scientist
Analyze,
compare,
identify &
interpret
physical
evidence
Identify
evidence & link
it to the suspect,

Forensic
Psychiatrist
Apply Psychiatry to
the Law
Expert witnesses
in court
Application
of
medical treatment
in forensic settings

Psychology and Law

Psychology- is the study of human behavior & mental
processes.
The Legal systemis used as a formal method by
which society uses laws to regulate human behavior.
The concepts of psychological & behavioral science
are relevant to every area of law.

I. What is Forensic
Psychology?
It is the application of psychological findings to legal
processes.
This means forensic psychologists may be involved in the
assessment, evaluation, & treatment of criminal offenders
as well as other areas of the legal system (determining mental
fitness for trial, etc.)

A. Forensic Psychologydevelopment
Two branches of development in this field:
1. Psychological research findings have increasingly been
used to inform various legal processes.
2.

The practice of clinical forensic psychology has

become an integral part of the overall field of forensic
science.

II. Historical Origins of Forensic

Psychology: Eyewitness testimony
Hugo Munsterberg (1908) argued on the basis of
psychological research that eyewitness testimony was unreliable
& shouldnt be used by the legal system to bolster convictions.
In 1974, Buckhout published the results of an experiment in
which subjects witnessed a purse-snatching crime & were asked
to identify the perpetrator. Only 7 of 52 made the correct
identification.
Buckhout concluded, after a series of similar findings, that
memory is selective, influenced by other factors, & fallible. He
argued that eyewitness identification is faulty over 90% of time.

Why are there so many problems

with eyewitness identifications?
1. Humans are fairly unreliable in how we process information.
We are heavily influenced by our emotions at the time of the
crime (e.g., rape, assault), may focus our attention on salient
features of the crime (e.g., weapon), unsuitable environmental
conditions (e.g., darkness; rain) & stress may impair recollection.
2. Procedures employed by law enforcement to obtain
eyewitness accounts may be flawed. Kassin et al., (2001), cite
the numerous criminal justice procedures that can seriously
affect an eyewitnesses accuracy. Some such procedures used by
police include: problems in the wording of questions, line-up
instructions, mug shots, induced bias, child witness
suggestibility, attitudes & expectations, etc.

DNA to the rescue!!!!!!

Despite the dearth of research clearly debunking the

reliability of eyewitness accounts, the legal system
clung to this as a means to improve conviction rates.
This changed, when DNA evidence became widely
available!!!!
DNA evidence proved conclusively that many
defendants had been falsely convicted, solely on the
basis of uncorroborated eyewitness testimony.

Current view:
Forensic Psychology plays a greater role in the
legal system than ever before.
However, it is still new to the field.

IV. What do Forensic Psychologists do?

Assessment (conduct tests to assess mental state, IQ,

competency, etc.).
Treatment (providing services to offenders in prisons,
treatment/detention centers, & following release from
prison).
Provision of testimony in a variety of legal cases in
areas such as family law (custody, visitation), civil law
(personal injury, workers compensation, wills &
contracts), and criminal law (competencies,
sentencing).

VI. Forensic psychologists &

psychological testing
Forensic psychologists can administer a
number of tests to assess a defendants mental
state.
However, there are some criticisms with using
these tests, which are meant for individuals in
the general pop.

General criticisms of
conventional tests used in
forensic practice
1. Many of these tests havent been validated for
forensic science.
2. Tests do not address legal issues, norms
gathered for the population may not apply to the
individual, & tests tap current behavior when
past behavior is of more interest to forensic
scientists.

END
OF
LECTURE