who knows, but at least i got 2 points!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2006-08-11 07:20:04
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answer #1
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answered by crazy cracker 2
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When my students arrived for their first forensic psychology lecture, I would always start by giving them 10 minutes to write down an answer to this question.
After about 2 minutes I would ask for their attention and apologise for forgetting to tell them that they weren't allowed to use the words serial killers or silence of the lambs in their answer. It was usually as this point that most of the writing in the lecture theatre stopped.
The first thing to appreciate when addressing this question is that even psychologists in the field are divided as to what the answer is.
The division of criminological and legal psychology within the British Psychological Society argued for twenty years as to whether their members should be entitled to call themselves Chartered Forensic Psychologists. It was finally agreed that they should, however, there still remains a great deal of debate and controversy surrounding the issue.
The central problem is that its members are drawn from a wide range of disciplines (Psychologists in the prison/correctional services, Clinical psychologists in special hospitals & the psychiatric services, Educational psychologists, Occupational psychologists, Academics etc) so it is always difficult to state what the boundaries are when you talk of Forensic Psychology.
Now while it is important to acknowledge that this fragmentation of role exists, it is just as important to realise that these different groups are linked to forensic psychology because their work, expert knowledge or research activity is somehow connected with the law.
This legal connection makes perfect sense when you consider that the word forensic comes from the Latin forensis, which literally means appertaining to the forum, specifically the imperial court of Rome. So in essence:
The debate as to what is and what isn’t forensic psychology rests primarily on the nature of psychology’s relationship with the legal system.
Let me give you an example, imagine 2 clinical psychologists meet at a conference and they begin talking about the work they do.
The first psychologist tells the second that she recently gave expert testimony in court arguing that the defendant in a murder case was criminally insane; the judge and jury agreed and having been found guilty on the grounds of diminished responsibility the defendant was going to be sent to a secure psychiatric unit.
Now there’s a coincidence the second psychologist says I work in the unit where they're sending him, so I’ll be dealing and treating this guy when he arrives.
So here you have a situation where 2 psychologists are linked to the legal system by way of a legal decision and you could argue, therefore, that both deserve to be seen as engaging in Forensic Psychology. However, there’s a crucial difference.
The first psychologist actually helped inform the legal decision based on her psychological knowledge and expertise. The second psychologists' involvement on the other hand arose as a consequence of a legal decision that she had no direct influence over.
My preferred forensic psychology definition acknowledges this key distinction, namely:
That branch of applied psychology which is concerned with the collection, examination and presentation of evidence for judicial purposes’ (Haward 1981).
If you adopt this definition you are stating categorically that Forensic Psychology relates to:
The provision of psychological information for the purpose of facilitating a legal decision (Blackburn 1996).
So in the case of our two psychologists, strictly speaking only the first can be said to be engaged in Forensic Psychology.
Not everybody would agree with this, because there is a school of thought that would claim that any activity that links psychology to the law deserves to be described as Forensic.
To find out everything you need to know about about forensic psychology go to
http://www.all-about-forensic-psychology.com/
2006-08-15 04:23:02
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answer #2
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answered by David Webb 2
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It is using psychology for legal issues. Usually child custody cases, murder and rape cases, things of that nature. "forensic" basically just means using science within the legal system.
2006-08-11 07:40:24
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answer #3
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answered by pooh8402 3
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It is the intersection of law and psychology. It's applications range from assessing a defendent's competency to stand trial, whether one was guilty @ the time a crime was committed, and it has civil applications as well.
2006-08-11 08:21:31
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answer #4
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answered by ronnieneilan1983 3
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well, one takes a brain from a dead person, analyzes it, and determines why it was a little off the norm
2006-08-11 07:25:36
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answer #5
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answered by wellaem 6
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The study of How a Dead Body Got DEAD..
2006-08-11 07:23:08
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answer #6
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answered by MacMaybe 1
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