Forensic Psych Week 1-4 PDF

Week 1: Basic principles Forensic psychology = The understanding and production of psychological knowledge that is applicable, in an integrative fashion, to issues of importance to the criminal and civil justice systems Psychological perspectives on personality Biological perspective (pre-1890) Ba...

Week 1: Basic principles Forensic psychology = The understanding and production of psychological knowledge that is applicable, in an integrative fashion, to issues of importance to the criminal and civil justice systems Psychological perspectives on personality Biological perspective (pre-1890) Basis of personality - How our biological makeup impacts our actions & thoughts Cause of criminal behaviour - due to biological elements related to thinking/behaving Altering the criminal personality - Only accomplished through biological makeup & medical interventions Psychoanalytic perspective (Freud 1890-1930) Basis of Personality – defined as how one’s unconscious, childhood and psychosexual development combine to determine one’s psychological make-up and subsequent behaviour Cause of Criminal Behaviour - A combination of fixations leading to a personality type that is conducive to engaging in offending behaviours Altering the Criminal Personality - Can only be accomplished through intensive individual therapeutic intervention Behavioural perspective (Watson & Skinner 1930-80) Basis of Personality - defined as one’s behaviours which are formed through associations with reinforcement or punishment Cause of Criminal Behaviour - Due to the strength of an association between the criminal action a positive reinforcement or punishment Altering the Criminal Personality - Can be accomplished through application of the Operant Conditioning Model Humanistic perspective (Rogers & Maslow 1950-80) Basis of Personality - defined as the impact that one’s level of self-actualisation (i.e., movement through the hierarchy of needs or self/self-actualisation overlap) has on behaviour Cause of Criminal Behaviour - the person has been engaged in abnormal behaviours in order to gratify lower-level needs or has been blocked physically or psychologically Altering the Criminal Personality – assist the individual in identifying acceptable paths for moving beyond lower-level needs or dealing with the blocks Cognitive perspective (Kelly 1980-now) Basis of Personality – result of our behaviours and mental processes Cause of Criminal Behaviour – abnormal mental processes and/or behavioural patterns Altering the Criminal Personality – alteration of mental processes and behavioural patterns through training/learning (e.g., Cognitive-Behavioural Programs) Psychology & Law Human psychology = The examination of the thoughts and behaviours of individuals in order to identify generalized principles that are predictive and which may be proactively employed to assist with improving the human condition ➔ Innovative, empirical, experimental, descriptive & nomothetic discourse, academic & proactive orientation Law = The use of defined rules & authority to respond to behavioural transgressions retroactively ➔ Restraint to innovation (stare decisis), hierarchical, prescriptive & ideographic focus, certainty, reactive orientation Nomothetic vs Ideographic approaches Nomothetic = the study of classes or cohorts of individuals - Subjects are seen as a representation of a population’s behaviours. Ideographic = The study of an individual who is seen as a unique agent. Research approaches & forensic psychology Continuum of research 1. Basic research: seeks fundamental knowledge without immediate practical application (neurological configurations) 2. Applied research: Solving specific & practical problems (jury decision-making) 3. Social Issue research: addresses defined social issues (marijuana use) 4. Action research: Combines research & actions to solve problems & includes community input (crime reduction)  5. Integrative research: addresses a specific concern of an organisation (agency driven (missing persons or police procedures) Week 2: Theoretical Models and Psychological Foundations Integration: Haney’s model Psychology-driven model 1. Psychology IN the criminal justice system = expert testimony in insanity cases 2. Psychology AND the criminal justice system = developing procedures for the best type of line-up process 3. Psychology IN the criminal justice system = social justice Integration: Monahan & Walker model Law-driven model ➔ Adjudicative facts = relevant to case at hand & outcome of case ◆ Psychology used as a social fact ➔ Legislative facts = beyond the case itself & relevant to subsequent cases ◆ Psychology used as a social authority ○ Psychology used as a social framework = both Experiments Quasi-experimental research Developed in order to allow for as much empirical rigour as possible within a real-world context Generally employed to examine the impact of a defined intervention Allows for claims of correlation but less reflective of causality Increased likelihood of causality based on the type of design employed Non-Causal Inference Designs One-Group Post-Test Only Design Involves observation of individuals only after they have experienced the intervention Post-Test Only Design with Non-Equivalent Groups  Involves observation of individuals after they have experienced the intervention as well as a group of those not experiencing the intervention (posthoc group) The One Group Pre-Test/Post-Test Design Involves observation of individuals both before and after they have experienced the intervention Casual inference design The Untreated Control Group Design with Pre-Test and Post-Test Involves pre and post-observation of individuals who receive and do not receive the intervention Interrupted Time Series with Removed Treatment involves pre and post-observation of individuals who receive the intervention and then have the intervention removed Program evaluation Program - an organised set of activities having as its main objective the production of some kind of change in the organization and/or its users Evaluation – a rigorous and empirical analysis of the impact Program Evaluation - is the systematic application of scientific methods to assess the design, implementation, improvement and/or outcomes of an initiative or intervention 1. Identification (and empirical evidence) of a need for an intervention to alleviate an identified challenge 2. Identification of an evidenced-based intervention 3. Implementation of intervention 4. Assessment of how the program is running (i.e., process evaluation) 5. Collection of pre/post data to assess the impact of the program (i.e., outcome evaluation) Types of evalusations Needs & Assets Assessment The goal is to empirically identify whether there is a need for the implementation of an intervention based on an examination of the related needs and assets Gap Analysis Process Evaluation The goal is to examine: ○ Program fidelity (The degree to which the intervention reflects the original proposal and the degree of multiple-delivery equality) ○ Short-term procedural impacts Outcome Evaluation  goal is to empirically document the impact of the program (Outcomes/outputs) Needs & Assets Data Collection Empirical Approaches for a Gap Analysis Indicator Approach like archival research Examination of existing records and information (Interviews) & available services to establish if there is a need for a program ​Survey Approach Provides the most scientific data regarding need Involves the development, distribution, and analysis of a “good” survey that taps beliefs about the need for a program Community Impressions Approach Involves meetings and interviews with community members to assess whether there is a need for a program May be accomplished in three ways: 1. Key Informant Interviews – semi-structured interviews conducted with select individuals who have a significant level of involvement and/or understanding of the issue/organization 2. Focus Groups – semi-structured meetings with 8-12 individuals from the community of interest 3. Community Forum – open forum of community members aimed at gauging views toward the need for a program Week 3: Legal foundations (AUS) Criminal vs Civil Cases ➔ Civil cases = Settlement of a dispute between two parties where one of the parties perceives that they have been harmed ➔ Criminal cases = Prosecution by the state of an individual who has violated a law Appellate vs Lower Court Decisions Appellate decisions = Made by a higher court usually regarding a claim that an individual’s constitutional rights were infringed upon during a lower court hearing ➔ These decisions are generally recorded. Mens Rea (Guilty Mind) and Actus Reus (Guilty Act)  ➔ The act does not make a person guilty unless the mind is also guilty Stare decisis = The legal principle of following precedents in deciding a case, the idea that future decisions of a court should follow the example set by the prior decisions. Australian legal system Based on common law/case law/precedent Emphasis on stare decisis rather than statute ​Federal Stream – includes the courts who hold jurisdiction over Commonwealth Law (laws created by federal parliament) such as customs, immigration, industrial relations, etc. Includes: the High Court of Australia, the Federal Court of Australia, and the Family Court of Australia (jurisdiction over family law matters) State/Territory Stream – includes the courts who hold jurisdiction over State/Territory Law (laws created by the State). The streams vary by State. Victorian court system Magistrates court Lowest VIC court Minor criminal matters (public drunkenness) & minor civil matters (small claims under $100,000) County Court General trial court for the state Jurisdiction over all criminal matters (except Treason, murder, & manslaughter) Can hear appeals from magistrates court on criminal cases Supreme court 1. Trial division: 1 judge & court of original jurisdiction for serious criminal matters (murder) 2. Court of appeals: 3 judges who sit on appeals from the county court & trial division Criminal offences are defined by the Crimes Act of 1958* Part 1: Offences - defines offences Part 2: Offenders - defines particular aspects of offenders such as abettors (aid vs. abet), accessories, concealers of offences Part 3: Procedure & Punishment – defines procedural aspects (e.g., pleading, evidence, fingerprinting, DNA) as well as punishment guidelines (i.e., sentences) Part 4: Probation & Parole Provisions – includes information on probation officers and regulations Part 5: Property of Persons Convicted of Treason or an Indictable Offence – includes guidance on issues related to the forfeiture and recovery of property. Example: 1. A person is guilty of robbery if he steals, and immediately before or at the time of doing so, and in order to do so, he uses force on any person or puts or seeks to put any person in fear that he or another person will be then and there subjected to force. Week 4: Legal foundations (Understanding law) Reading an appellate court decision 1. Issue – what is the specific and concise issue at hand in this case (often framed as a question)? 2. Facts – what are the relevant (adjudicative) facts of the case? 3. Case History – what was the judicial route that brought the case to the attention of this court (including grounds for appeal)? 4. Holding – what is the decision of the court (upheld, reversed, remanded) 5. Rationale – what is the reason for the court’s decision (including persuasive evidence)? Obscenity Material is defined as obscene if:  1. the average person, applying contemporary community standards would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest 2. whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law, and 3. whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value (Paris Adult Theatre) **Works depicting children (under 18 years of age) must be assessed through a more strict adherence to the above definition (Ferber) There is a need for scientific evidence to be included in cases of obscenity and that evidence should revolve around community standards. Forensic psychology & the civil justice system 1. Tort law = breaching of a civil duty other than a contract a. Negligence, nuisance, defamation, malpractice Duty of Care – a legal obligation imposed on an individual requiring that they adhere to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm others Breach of Duty – conduct falls short of the expected standard under the circumstances Cause – separated into: ○ cause in fact (But/for test) ○ proximate cause (An event which is sufficiently related to the harm Harm/Damage – proof that the plaintiff has suffered a loss (Costs, reputation) 2. Substantive law: Proximate cause a. there must have been a connection between the conduct of the defendant which the plaintiff claims was negligent, and the injury complained of by the plaintiff b. the occurrence which is claimed to have produced the injury was a natural and probable result of such conduct of the defendant Trademark infringement **