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A forensic psychologist’s work may include, observing and interviewing people in the legal system, lowering stress among staff and offenders in secure settings, supervising assistants, conducting statistical analysis for prisoner profiling, providing research to support psychological practice with offenders, providing expert testimony in court, advising parole boards and mental health tribunals, they provide testimony on competence and future risk of criminal behaviour, crime analysis, Implementing treatment programmes, criminal victims receive counselling from forensic psychologists, reports on criminal profiles, criminal responsibility, and mental health are written by forensic psychologists and numerous forensic psychologists publish academic journals outlining their latest findings.

Forensic psychologists frequently provide advice and testify as experts during court cases.

In both civil and criminal cases, ‘forensic psychologists give their professional assistance to the legal system’ (Cooke, 1980). To mentally evaluate people in the legal system, these specialists require good forensic abilities. Additionally, forensic psychologists should be proficient in evaluation, interviewing, report writing, and case presenting in addition to having good verbal communication skills.

Forensic psychologists frequently act as consultants and expert witnesses in court cases. They can offer perspectives on client competency, punishment, and therapy. These psychologists ‘create criminal profiles using the evidence from crime scenes to reduce suspect lists’ (psychology.org, 2022). In addition, forensic psychologists provide legal and administrative companies with consulting services.

A forensic psychologist will assist in giving prisoners the tools they need to transition from a situation of mostly unpredictability to one where they can depart and go on to lead better lives. To assess the psychological requirements of service users, forensic psychologists will meet with them. From there, they will create care and treatment plans.

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The psychological components of legal procedures are of interest to forensic psychologists. The phrase is also frequently used to refer to criminological and investigative psychology, which includes using psychological theory in ‘criminal investigations, comprehending psychological issues connected to criminal behaviour, and treating offenders’ (DeMatteo et al., 2019).

Forensic psychologists work with the psychological components of the investigation, legal proceedings, and criminal behaviour to lessen potential future reoffending.

They will assist in the intervention to help stop the use of illegal drugs and/or alcohol as well as the treatment of offenders in a variety of areas, such as sexual offending, violence and aggressiveness, interpersonal and social skills, and intervention. To lessen the effects of their experiences and the likelihood that they would conduct crimes again, they will provide treatment to people who have broken the law.

Understanding individuals, figuring out why they've committed crimes, and attempting to find a method to help them live better lives are all part of forensic psychology. Forensic psychology is concerned with evidence risk. It is anticipated to observe how the information is being implemented and how it makes a difference through ‘personality evaluations, developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, statistical research thinking, and practical applications’ (BPS, 2022).

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Pathways to Becoming a Forensic Psychologist

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Pathways to Becoming a Forensic Psychologist

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Typically, forensic psychologists have earned a recognised master's or doctoral degree in ‘psychology, social work, counselling, or a related field and, in some cases, postgraduate academic work in a forensic psychology program’ (BPS, 2022). They must next finish a master’s programme in forensic psychology that has been authorised by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Finally, forensic psychologists finish either a minimum of ‘three years of experience under supervision’ (BPS, 2022) when the trainee has demonstrated how to use psychology in forensics or a doctorate programme including practise placements and a ‘third-year research thesis that is certified by the HCPC’ (BPS, 2022).

When applying to forensic psychology programmes, experience is crucial. Preference is given to people who have worked in a forensic environment, such as a prison, probation office, or adolescent offending programme. This can be a paid or voluntary position. A forensic psychologist needs the right education and experience, but they also need to be well-versed in their field and have outstanding communication skills to adequately convey the theoretical, moral, and legal foundations of their conclusions.

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Most work will be done in collaboration with the police, probation agencies, secure mental health institutes, or prisons. Although ‘HM Prison Service is the single largest employer of forensic psychologists in the UK’ (Blackburn, 1996), forensic psychologists are also employed by social assistance, services for offender management (such as police and probation), academic departments doing research, overseeing, and teaching in their fields of specialisation.

While a ‘PhD in forensic psychology is required’ (Fenster, 1975) to work as a forensic psychologist, a forensic bachelor's degree opens several career choices in social services, law enforcement, or investigative work. There are ‘even more career alternatives with a forensic master's degree’ (psychology.org, 2022), such as counselling, social work, or consulting. There is also work within the criminal justice system, legal companies, law enforcement, detective agencies, or independently as a practitioner. It is also possible to specialise in fields including victim advocacy, jury psychology, and crime prevention.

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Psychological examination, intervention, and treatment of those who have committed violent crimes or are otherwise involved with the legal system are all included in forensic psychology. In forensic treatment, victims and their relatives may also be engaged. According to the needs of the client and the court system, a forensic therapist may serve in a therapeutic, supervising, or consultative role. Juvenile and adult criminals are treated individually and in groups by forensic psychologists.

‘Clients are assessed for criminal culpability, trial readiness, and violence risk in jails’ (Davies et al., 2012) and other institutional settings including probation offices and government forensic assessment units. In courts, forensic psychologists give expert testimony as witnesses. Cases and specialities may include ‘juvenile evaluations, punishment and mitigation, sex offender risk assessment, child custody and parental fitness, and child abuse and neglect’ (Weiner et al., 2006).

An evaluation may be carried out to decide on a therapeutic treatment plan or only to verify facts, such as mental competence, for use in the legal system. A forensic psychologist may ‘assess a person's mental capacity to assist in determining the facts of a legal case’ (phsychologytoday, 2022) if a lawyer or the court requests that the psychologist do so, although therapeutic treatment is not recommended. When a forensic psychologist is evaluating a patient for therapy, the focus is less on establishing the facts of a case and more on figuring out the patient's issues and choosing the best course of action. A forensic psychologist frequently participates in multidisciplinary teams.

In order to assist criminal suspects to comprehend their reasons and accept responsibility for their acts, forensic psychology seeks to ‘identify the factors that lead to criminal behaviour’ (Birgden, 2008). Offenders may be able to alter their thought and behaviour patterns, so they are less likely to act out or conduct crimes in the future by developing this self-awareness as well as a knowledge of the nature and consequences of their crime.

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Who do Forensic Psychologists Work With?

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Who do Forensic Psychologists Work With?

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Work with all facets of the criminal justice system is done by forensic psychologists. Forensic psychologists work with a variety of populations, including people with persistent issues, people who are at risk of offending due to their behaviour, family members, victims, and members of the public who are impacted by crime. While adults are typically the target audience for this, some trained forensic psychologists also deal with ‘juvenile offenders and in the juvenile justice system’ (Arrigo et al, 2005).

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Law and forensic psychology have been related since the beginning of known history. Nowadays, psychological expert testimony is almost always used in legal proceedings. Forensic psychologists frequently testify in court as expert witnesses. The duties of a forensic psychologist include deciding the admissibility of defences such as alcoholism, amnesia, dissociative identity disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder, foretelling violent conduct, weighing eyewitness testimony to determine the proper sentence, profiling, and assisting in child custody determinations. Forensic interview and psychological testing are the two most significant forensic evaluation techniques, however forensic hypnosis is occasionally used as well.

A forensic psychologist can get training in any area of psychology, including ‘clinical, social, organisational’ (DeMatteo et al.,2009), and more. A forensic psychologist is often recognised as a specialist in a certain area of study. The response must be given in a language that the court can comprehend since the questions a forensic psychologist asks are typically not inquiries. To determine whether a defendant is competent to stand trial, for instance, the court usually appoints a forensic psychologist. The process of a convicted individual being reintegrated into society is referred to as rehabilitation. The fundamental goal of contemporary penal policy is to combat persistent offending, often known as ‘criminal recidivism’ (Connell, 2016). There are various alternatives to prison, such as community service, probationary terms, and other procedures requiring counselling and follow-up on behalf of the defence.

One of the pioneers of criminal psychology in the UK, Professor Lionel Haward, outlined the four roles psychologists might play when they engage in legal cases in 1981.

Clinical - A forensic psychologist will often be engaged in the evaluation of a person to offer a clinical opinion. To help in their evaluation, the psychologist may use ‘interviews, evaluation instruments, or psychometric tests’ (Rogers, 2000), for example, unique questionnaires. These evaluations can provide information on a person's psychological functioning to the police, the courts, or the prison and probation services. As a result, these evaluations may have an impact on how the various criminal justice system components handle the relevant authority.

Experimental- A forensic psychologist may research to support a case in this situation. This may entail performing experiments to demonstrate a point or provide the court's further information for example, ‘how likely it is that someone can correctly identify an object in the hand of an individual from a distance of 100 meters’ (Haward, 1981). Alternately, it might entail psychologists summarising recent study findings for the court that might be significant to the case at hand.

Actuarial - If a forensic psychologist is asked to provide the court with actuarial data on the likelihood of an event, it would be an example of how they may act in an actuarial position. Before deciding on a sentence, the court would want to know how likely a criminal is to commit another offence. In such a situation, the court could request the assistance of a forensic psychologist to ‘inform the pre-sentence report’ (Fletcher et al, 2021).

Advisory- In this capacity, the psychologist can ‘counsel the police on how to conduct an inquiry’ (Haward, 1981). For instance, the investigation could benefit from knowing the offender's profile or it might be helpful to have guidance on how to question a particular suspect. As an alternative, a prosecutor or defence attorney may request guidance on how to effectively cross-examine a witness who is weak or another expert witness. In this position, the psychologist consults with the prison, probation, and judicial systems as needed.

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There is no question that forensic psychology is crucial to prison rehabilitation; specific interventions are implemented to guarantee a successful recovery for convicts such as the release of lifers into the community or the rehabilitation of sex offenders after a treatment programme. These one-to-one assessments Develop, execute, and evaluate appropriate offender treatment and rehabilitation programmes, including anger management, treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, and social and cognitive skills training. Suicide, self-harm, or other high-risk behaviour. psychiatric, occupational-based, and education-focused programmes are useful.

Determining treatment within the prison population or alternatives to prison involves many different considerations. The numerous potential therapies are affected by factors such as age, gender, individual circumstances, jurisdiction, resources, mental health, disability, cultural diversity, educational level, and socioeconomic status. As the discipline of forensic psychology develops, evaluates, and suggests alternatives to incarceration, treatment programmes for inmates are more widely used than ever.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a type of cognitive therapy that operates under the assumption that the client's ‘cognitive flaws result in mistakenly pessimistic attitudes that remain despite evidence to the contrary’ (Harvey et al.,2012), negative self-talk results from these cognitive distortions. The psychologist will work with the offender to identify automatic negative, anxiety-inducing thoughts, and negative self-talk. They will also work with them to understand the origin of these thoughts. Finally, they will help them to help them assess the situation realistically and replace the negative self-talk with supportive, calming, and positive self-talk. The offender's life before the event or trauma, as well as the circumstances that led up to the occurrence, will be the starting point for reconstructing the trauma or incident tale. The reconstruction of factual recitation follows.

Individual psychotherapy - In an effort to help an offender get better, the judge may order that certain people get individual psychotherapy. But before doing so, the judge will request a forensic assessment. This kind of therapy is almost usually required if the perpetrator has a recognised mental disorder. The defendant will gain knowledge about the ‘cycle of anxiety and panic attacks, symptom management, cognitive restructuring, systemic desensitisation, avoidance behaviour, guilt, humiliation, wrath, and helplessness’ (Kjelsberg et al., 2006) during the therapy process.

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Numerous prisoner mental health solutions have been studied, but often on a modest scale. The research's synthesis is challenging due to the small sample size, diversity of the jail population, and locations. Due to organisational challenges like ‘obtaining permissions and running interventions alongside mandated programmes’ (zara et al., 2014), a lack of dedicated research funding, and the perception that prisoner health is distinct from public health in general, there is less research done in prisons than in community settings. Particularly few drug studies are carried out in prisons.

Studies have shown that psychological therapies have undergone many more controlled trials in prison settings than medication. Trials of psychological treatment were often modest and comprised a wide range of therapies, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, which had mixed results. ‘120 Iranian inmates participated in a trial in which they were assigned at random to undergo individual cognitive behavioural treatment’ (Khodayarifard et al., 2010), combined individual and group cognitive behavioural therapy, or to be put on a waiting list. According to the study, inmates who underwent cognitive behavioural treatment ‘showed improvements in their psychological well-being symptom levels compared to those who were on a waiting list’ (Khodayarifard et al., 2010). In conclusion, there is some evidence that these psychological therapies are effective, but the effect sizes are small, and it is unclear if the data would hold up in higher-quality designs. As an illustration, employing active controls rather than the conventional waiting list or treatment controls and determining if any improvements are maintained.

The heightened structures, various laws, housing, and availability of drugs provide special difficulties in the prison setting, which may be the reason why psychiatric treatments are less effective there than on the outside. Research on prisoner-specific therapies is needed, especially around drug abuse.

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Prisoners have an excessive prevalence of mental illnesses. The greatest support comes from studies that suggest that ‘one in seven offenders had major mental problems including psychosis or depression’ (Fazel et al., 2016). Comparing convicts to the general community, substance misuse is also far more prevalent. Mental health issues raise the likelihood of suicide, self-harm, aggression, and victimisation for inmates. Few of the risk variables are common to all these outcomes, making it difficult to devise interventions that are successful. Therefore, therapies will primarily rely on research from contexts other than prisons, while some prison-specific research has shown that medications for depression and cognitive behavioural therapy-based treatments for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder may enhance results.

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