FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY
Crime is part of our everyday lives. Switch on the television and there will be documentaries about crime, films about crime and crime stories in the news. Pick up a newspaper and there will be coverage of local crimes, and articles about crimes of national and international significance.
Browse in a bookshop and you will probably find a crime section with novels about crime, true crime stories, books about criminals and books written by criminals. Listen to a conversation on the bus or in the pub and there is a good chance that you will hear someone talk about a burglary in their street, or their car being broken into, or a friend’s credit cards being stolen.
From the time that Cain killed Abel, crime has been in the news. For centuries before psychology appeared on the scene, philosophers struggled to understand evil and antisocial acts, while students of jurisprudence wrestled with issues of criminal law and punishment. It was not until the turn of the 1900s that psychology was first applied to understanding criminal behaviour, and forensic psychology did not really emerge as a speciality until the middle of the twentieth century.
But forensic psychology has quickly grown in popularity, aided and abetted by several wellknown television series. University postgraduate courses have expanded to include forensic psychology, and there is now a range of professional opportunities for those with the appropriate qualifications.
PSYCHOLOGY AND THE LAW - MEANING OF ‘FORENSIC’
According to The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, ‘forensic’ means ‘Of, used in, courts of law’. So, strictly speaking, forensic psychology is the application of psychology to matters concerning the court of law.
Wrightsman’s Forensic Psychology takes just this approach in proposing that ‘Forensic psychology is reflected by any application of psychological knowledge or methods to the task facing the legal system’ (2001, p. 2). This correct usage of the term ‘forensic’ is similarly reflected in other texts given specifically to forensic psychology (Gudjonsson & Haward, 1998) or more generally to psychology and law (Bartol & Bartol, 1994; Kapardis, 1997; Stephenson, 1992).
But ‘forensic psychology’ has also come to be used in a much broader sense – when psychology is associated with any topic even remotely related to crime, such as the development of antisocial behaviour, the study of different types of offender, and crime prevention. This improper use of the term ‘forensic’ has, rightly, met with disapproval (Blackburn, 1996), but its use has become widespread.
In considering the topic of forensic psychology in the broad sense it is helpful to distinguish between legal psychology [legal psychology the application of psychology to matters of concern in a court of law.] – which can be thought of in terms of Wrightman’s definition – and criminological psychology [criminological psychology the application of psychology to enrich our understanding of crime and criminal behaviour]– the application of psychological knowledge and methods to the study of crime and criminal behaviour.
THE ORIGINS OF LEGAL PSYCHOLOGY
The application of psychology to the legal arena took place even as psychology first developed as a university-based academic discipline. In their history of forensic psychology, Bartol and Bartol (1999) note that several eminent figures, such as J. McKeen Cattell (1895), Alfred Binet (1905) and William Stern (1910), conducted studies of the accuracy of memory, drawing parallels with the precision of real-life eyewitness testimony. Even Sigmund Freud showed an interest in legal psychology, publishing in 1906 a paper titled ‘Psychoanalysis and the ascertaining of truth in courts of law’.
But there is little doubt that the most influential figure of the time was the American-based German psychologist Hugo Münsterberg (1863–1916). A doctoral student of Willhelm Wundt in Leipzig, Münsterberg met William James at Harvard in 1889, eventually taking a post there in 1897 (Spillmann & Spillmann, 1993). While writing on many areas of psychology, often in a controversial manner (Hale, 1980), Münsterberg’s major contribution to the fledgling discipline of forensic psychology is to be found in his book, published in 1908, On the Witness Stand. He advanced the view that psychology could usefully be applied to enhance understanding of courtroom issues and procedures. In particular, Münsterberg drew attention to the psychologist’s understanding of perception and memory, claiming that psychological knowledge provided insight into the reliability of witness testimony (thereby making the case for the psychologist as expert witness). At the time, Münsterberg’s claims for the practical benefits of psychology in the courtroom drew fierce attack from the legal profession (Wigmore, 1909). But his writings have stood the test of time in anticipating important areas of research, such as the study of the reliability of evidence, as seen in investigations of eyewitness memory and confessional evidence.
[Hugo Münsterberg (1863–1916) is often referred to as the founding father of forensic psychology. A German psychologist, Münsterberg was invited to America in 1892 by William James to set up a psychological laboratory at Harvard University. Münsterberg’s insistence that psychology could be applied to education, industry, and law was variously applauded as inspired by his supporters, or derided as opportunistic by his critics. During the First World War his political views (as seen in his pro-German sympathies, and a critical stance that he adopted to American involvement in the war) led to his becoming a social and academic outcast.]
[L. R. C. Haward (1920–98) can rightly be acclaimed as the first major figure in British forensic psychology. A clinical psychologist by training, Lionel Haward saw the potential for psychology to inform legal proceedings. He published on the topic of forensic psychology in the 1950s – well before The British Psychological Society formed the Division of Criminological and Legal Psychology (now the Division of Forensic Psychology) – and in 1981 he wrote the classic text Forensic Psychology. Alongside his academic work, he appeared as an expert witness in many cases, including the infamous 1960s trial of the underground magazine Oz.]
Crime is part of our everyday lives. Switch on the television and there will be documentaries about crime, films about crime and crime stories in the news. Pick up a newspaper and there will be coverage of local crimes, and articles about crimes of national and international significance.
Browse in a bookshop and you will probably find a crime section with novels about crime, true crime stories, books about criminals and books written by criminals. Listen to a conversation on the bus or in the pub and there is a good chance that you will hear someone talk about a burglary in their street, or their car being broken into, or a friend’s credit cards being stolen.
From the time that Cain killed Abel, crime has been in the news. For centuries before psychology appeared on the scene, philosophers struggled to understand evil and antisocial acts, while students of jurisprudence wrestled with issues of criminal law and punishment. It was not until the turn of the 1900s that psychology was first applied to understanding criminal behaviour, and forensic psychology did not really emerge as a speciality until the middle of the twentieth century.
But forensic psychology has quickly grown in popularity, aided and abetted by several wellknown television series. University postgraduate courses have expanded to include forensic psychology, and there is now a range of professional opportunities for those with the appropriate qualifications.
PSYCHOLOGY AND THE LAW - MEANING OF ‘FORENSIC’
According to The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, ‘forensic’ means ‘Of, used in, courts of law’. So, strictly speaking, forensic psychology is the application of psychology to matters concerning the court of law.
Wrightsman’s Forensic Psychology takes just this approach in proposing that ‘Forensic psychology is reflected by any application of psychological knowledge or methods to the task facing the legal system’ (2001, p. 2). This correct usage of the term ‘forensic’ is similarly reflected in other texts given specifically to forensic psychology (Gudjonsson & Haward, 1998) or more generally to psychology and law (Bartol & Bartol, 1994; Kapardis, 1997; Stephenson, 1992).
But ‘forensic psychology’ has also come to be used in a much broader sense – when psychology is associated with any topic even remotely related to crime, such as the development of antisocial behaviour, the study of different types of offender, and crime prevention. This improper use of the term ‘forensic’ has, rightly, met with disapproval (Blackburn, 1996), but its use has become widespread.
In considering the topic of forensic psychology in the broad sense it is helpful to distinguish between legal psychology [legal psychology the application of psychology to matters of concern in a court of law.] – which can be thought of in terms of Wrightman’s definition – and criminological psychology [criminological psychology the application of psychology to enrich our understanding of crime and criminal behaviour]– the application of psychological knowledge and methods to the study of crime and criminal behaviour.
THE ORIGINS OF LEGAL PSYCHOLOGY
The application of psychology to the legal arena took place even as psychology first developed as a university-based academic discipline. In their history of forensic psychology, Bartol and Bartol (1999) note that several eminent figures, such as J. McKeen Cattell (1895), Alfred Binet (1905) and William Stern (1910), conducted studies of the accuracy of memory, drawing parallels with the precision of real-life eyewitness testimony. Even Sigmund Freud showed an interest in legal psychology, publishing in 1906 a paper titled ‘Psychoanalysis and the ascertaining of truth in courts of law’.
But there is little doubt that the most influential figure of the time was the American-based German psychologist Hugo Münsterberg (1863–1916). A doctoral student of Willhelm Wundt in Leipzig, Münsterberg met William James at Harvard in 1889, eventually taking a post there in 1897 (Spillmann & Spillmann, 1993). While writing on many areas of psychology, often in a controversial manner (Hale, 1980), Münsterberg’s major contribution to the fledgling discipline of forensic psychology is to be found in his book, published in 1908, On the Witness Stand. He advanced the view that psychology could usefully be applied to enhance understanding of courtroom issues and procedures. In particular, Münsterberg drew attention to the psychologist’s understanding of perception and memory, claiming that psychological knowledge provided insight into the reliability of witness testimony (thereby making the case for the psychologist as expert witness). At the time, Münsterberg’s claims for the practical benefits of psychology in the courtroom drew fierce attack from the legal profession (Wigmore, 1909). But his writings have stood the test of time in anticipating important areas of research, such as the study of the reliability of evidence, as seen in investigations of eyewitness memory and confessional evidence.
[Hugo Münsterberg (1863–1916) is often referred to as the founding father of forensic psychology. A German psychologist, Münsterberg was invited to America in 1892 by William James to set up a psychological laboratory at Harvard University. Münsterberg’s insistence that psychology could be applied to education, industry, and law was variously applauded as inspired by his supporters, or derided as opportunistic by his critics. During the First World War his political views (as seen in his pro-German sympathies, and a critical stance that he adopted to American involvement in the war) led to his becoming a social and academic outcast.]
[L. R. C. Haward (1920–98) can rightly be acclaimed as the first major figure in British forensic psychology. A clinical psychologist by training, Lionel Haward saw the potential for psychology to inform legal proceedings. He published on the topic of forensic psychology in the 1950s – well before The British Psychological Society formed the Division of Criminological and Legal Psychology (now the Division of Forensic Psychology) – and in 1981 he wrote the classic text Forensic Psychology. Alongside his academic work, he appeared as an expert witness in many cases, including the infamous 1960s trial of the underground magazine Oz.]
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