Legal Psychology and Victimization Essay

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The impact of the psychological profiles of the offender and victims on the court evidence presented by the prosecutor and defense teams and witness use



Psychological profiling involves developing a composition of behavioral attributes. It combines psychological and sociological review of the offender. The process of profiling is anchored on the premise that if the crime scene is analyzed carefully and accurately, there is a good chance that the type of person involved in the offence will begin to surface. Therefore, it is based on the idea that some types of people manifest certain behavior tendencies and patterns. A jury informed of such patterns, is better equipped to ascertain probale suspects (Ebisike, 2007).



Profiling driven by psychological processes has an impact on the strategies and suggestions for evidence presentation by both offenders and victims. In the offender's case, profiling suggests the most effective style of interviewing to apply when such an offender has been taken into custody/apprehended. Since offenders vary in their personality and circumstance, interrogation techniques will inevitably vary. Rapists provide a classic case of offenders that need a uniquely different approach in interrogation. Even then, people react to the same questions in different ways. It is important to note, therefore, that a strategy may work with one offender but fail with another; even when they have committed similar crimes. It is known, for instance, that serial killers do it for different reasons. Similarly, those caught for violent offences react differently to interrogation (Ebisike, 2007).

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Applying psychological evaluation of the accused can help investigators establish whether the accused is likely to have engaged in behaviors that could have led to the offence in focus. The process is a critical one in the assessing the evidence presented by the victim against the suspected offender. The element of regularity is common. There is a link between the personality of an individual and the potential to commit certain crimes. For instance, a shy and an introvert individual is unlikely (unless they are influenced by liquor of other substance) to crack jokes in public and become a focal point in a public place such as a party. Extroverts do that all the time though. The central principle is the nomothetic trait combined with one's pattern of behavior. It is noted that one cannot be insane selectively. Similarly, disorder cannot be confined to a particular type of behavior or single situation. Normal people act normally. This means that psychological evaluation runs into problems when the behavior under focus borders closely to normal behavior and are of nonviolent form. However, if the behavior under focus in sadistic, intrusive, or deviant in nature, the process of psychological evaluation is indispensable in providing highly useful information in evidence analysis (Underwager & Wakefield, 1995).



In the evidence presentation in the court process, the questions are of legal nature and not psychological. Therefore, answers must also be in a language that the court understands. It is common practice, for.....

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References


Batman, H. (2012). Offender Profiling and Evidence in Court. Retrieved November 2, 2016 from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiAvNKS-IrQAhXJwVQKHZE2AN4QFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.taa.gov.tr%2Findir%2Foffender-profiling-and-evidence-in-court-bWFrYWxlfDA4Z

Ebisike, N. (2007). The Use of Offender Profiling Evidence in Criminal Cases.

FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY. Retrieved November 2, 2016, from http://www.peoi.org/Courses/Coursesen/practicing/Resources/Forensic%20.txt

Meyer, C. B. (2008). Criminal Profiling as Expert Evidence? In Criminal Profiling (pp. 207-247). Humana Press.

Underwager, R., & Wakefield, H. (1995). Psychological evaluations you need at trial: What they can and cannot do. Institute for Psychological Therapies,7, 1-32.

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