Forensic Science
March 29, 2013
Forensic Psychology Forensic psychology is used by the criminal justice system to evaluate the mental state of suspects, convicts, and witnesses, as well as being able to testify in court, and provide the judges and attorneys with findings that can be clearly understood by the court. This method is a fairly new one, and has barely begun being used in courts and other legal cases as a legitimate way to catch criminals. In order for a forensic psychologist to be able to testify in court, one must understand every aspect of the philosophy, rules, and standards of a court system, such as the exclusionary rule and understanding of hearsay evidence. The inability of being able to understand and keep these "rules" under control will mean a huge loss of credibility to the psychologist. Usually, a Forensic Psychologist is only an expert witness in one certain jurisdiction, such as criminal behavior, pathelogical patterns, or mentality of paranoids. Studying a criminal is incredibly difficult, taxing, and not to mention, very frustrating. Studying their minds is even worse, especially those of a psychopath, or a serial killer. Some think they are doing the work of a higher entity, like Satanists. Others merely kill to feel the ever-exciting rush of bloodlust. The minds of mentally-diseased people could take months to properly assess, and it might never even happen. Criminal Psychologists bravely tackle these tasks and try to make sense of the ever-chaotic, dark, black minds of criminals. They have to first understand how a mind works by studying the human mind, and all of the many ways it could be distorted, sickened, or even destroyed by some traumatic event, or maybe even raised to be a certain way. Some are even naturally sadistic. Although, the well-being of the client is not necessarily the first thing on the mind of a Forensic Psychologist, as it would be in traditional therapy or psychology. The job of the psychologist is mainly to obtain the evidence within the persons mind, and to make sure it matches up enough with other evidence to be deemed credible. The evidence has to be consistent with the story. Another task the Psychologist has to be able to do is properly is identify fake insanity. It seems absurd, but it is a common practice, seeing as how if one is found insane, he is sent to a mental asylum or hospital instead of prison. Spotting these falsities is crucial to this career. Since knowing all of these subjects with great familiarity, every aspiring forensic psychology must first have an extensive education, first. While a forensic psychologist may find work in research with only a bachelor's degree, a Ph.D. or master's degree in psychology is required for licensing or