Forensic Psychology

Forensic Psychology
By : Hesti Yanuarti

Psychology have some branches, one of them is forensic psychology. Forensic Psychology is the intersection between Psychology and the Criminal justice system. Forensic psychology is divided into various sub branches and each has terms that experts use to derive their recommendations and judgment.

The forensic psychologist views the client or defendant from a different point of view than does a traditional clinical psychologist. Seeing the situation from the client's point of view or "empathizing" is not the forensic psychologist's task. Traditional psychological tests and interview procedure are not sufficient when applied to the forensic situation.

An important aspect of forensic psychology is the ability to testify in court, reformulating psychological findings into the legal language of the courtroom, providing information to legal personnel in a way that can be understood. Forensic psychology also involves training and evaluating police or other law enforcement personal, providing law enforcement with criminal profiles and in other ways working with police departments.

Finally, forensic psychology is invaluable in maintaining justice in the criminal justice system by weeding out fraudulent informants and information, extracting factual information from inaccurately recollected testimonies, and establishing suitable aptitude and intelligence parameters among law enforcement personnel.

The forensic psychologist does have some additional professional liability issues. As mentioned above, confidentiality in a forensic setting is more complicated that in a clinical setting as the client or defendant is apt to misinterpret the limits of confidentiality despite being warned and signing a release.