The Field of Forensic Psychology

Q: What is “forensic psychology”? How can you do psychology on dead people?

A: Very funny. But actually, some misunderstanding may come from the term’s similarity to forensic pathology, which does involve autopsies and postmortem examinations of deceased persons.

The term forensic means “relating to or denoting the application of scientific methods and techniques to the investigation of crime or to other matters of the law.” There is a veritable alphabet soup of forensic fields, ranging from forensic accounting to forensic zoology, and forensic psychology is right in the middle of that list, that is, “the application of the principles and methods of behavioral science to matters of the law.”

Confusion also exists as to who a forensic psychologist actually is. The FBI, CIA, NCIS, and other investigators and profilers you see on TV and who, in real life, directly investigate crimes, are not actually psychologists; they’re law enforcement officers who may have specialized training in one or more behavioral science fields. Forensic psychology per se is usually practiced by doctoral or masters-level mental health professionals who are licensed in their fields and who typically are called into service after civil lawsuits or criminal charges are filed.

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The American court system, as well as that in many other Western countries, is divided into two main branches. The civil court system involves matters between private citizens or other private entities, where one party brings a lawsuit or other legal action against another, such as a family suing a chemical company for polluting the local water supply, or a parent seeking sole custody of a child. In such cases, the plaintiff (the one filing suit) has to show that they incurred some harm and that the harm was due to the purposeful or negligent actions of the defendant (the one being sued). Applications for psychologists include personal injury, medical malpractice, workplace trauma, family law, and civil competencies (capacity to consent to treatment, make a will, etc.).

In the criminal court system, charges are brought by the state or federal government against a citizen or other entity (also called a defendant), and the number and types of crimes are legion, ranging from misdemeanor shoplifting to felony murder. In these cases, forensic psychologists may be involved in three main ways. First, prior to trial, psychologists may be asked to evaluate a defendant’s competency to stand trial, that is, does the defendant have the requisite mental capacity to understand what he is charged with, the range of possible penalties, the workings of court procedure, and the ability to work with his attorney.

Second, defendants may attempt to use their disordered mental state—“mental disease or defect”—to offer an insanity defense, which will exculpate them from the criminal charges in question. Contrary to popular belief, these defenses are raised very rarely, and are even more rarely successful, because the level of impairment at the time of the crime must be shown to have been so great that the individual literally didn’t know what he was doing or was powerless to control his actions. However, even if not meeting the high bar for legal insanity, the presence of a mental disease or defect can still be offered as a mitigatory factor—“diminished capacity”—to argue for leniency at sentencing.

Third, sentencing decisions, as well as those regarding probation or parole, may be based partly on the estimated level of a defendant’s risk of future offending—sometimes referred to as “dangerousness prediction”—which in turn often relates to features of the defendant’s or inmate’s mental state, cognitive capacities, personality characteristics, personal history, and so on. Here, forensic psychologists use well-validated principles and tools of behavioral prediction to assist courts in making their determinations.

The actual process of working up a case will vary somewhat by the nature of the forensic issue in question (e.g. medical malpractice vs. sexual assault), but the basic steps are fairly universal across case types. First, the psychologist discusses the case with the attorney to determine if it is credible and if it falls within the psychologist’s sphere of expertise. If accepted, the next step usually involves poring over reams of records to get as much background information as possible.

Next, the defendant (in a criminal case) or plaintiff (in a civil) case undergoes a thorough psychological or neuropsychological evaluation by the psychologist. The results of that evaluation are then discussed with the attorney who may or may not request the psychologist to prepare a written report.

Note that in many cases involving expert opinions of any type, each side may have their own expert, who will present what typically look like diametrically opposed interpretations of the same data and events. The overwhelming majority of legal cases in both courts don’t actually go to trial, but reach a settlement (civil cases) or plea bargain (criminal cases), which in part may be based on the findings of the forensic psychological evaluation.

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If the case does go to trial, the expert witness may have to endure a withering cross-examination from opposing counsel, but it is our first and foremost obligation to be true to our factual findings and the scientific principles that underlie our opinions and testimony. We always have to keep in mind that our job is not to decide the outcome of a case, but to assist the factfinder (judge or jury) in understanding the complex psychological issues that will help them arrive at a just verdict.

Note: Information provided herein is for educational purposes, and is not intended to provide individual clinical or forensic advice or opinions. For such cases, always consult with a qualified legal and/or mental health professional.