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Psychology in Justice System
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PSYCHOLOGY IN JUSTICE SYSTEM 2
Psychology in Justice System
Psychology plays a crucial role in the criminal justice system. Criminal psychologists
play a crucial role in carrying out an investigation, examination, and interviews relating to
criminal activities. Monroe v. Pape case provided a legal ground for police officers to be sued for
violating a plaintiff's constitutional rights. Based on the US Supreme Court ruling, forensic
psychology can either support or oppose law enforcement officers in a legal dispute. Forensic
psychology is a form of psychological research that involves applying psychological knowledge
in answering complex criminal legal questions. In a legal dispute such as violations of civil rights
by law enforcement officers, forensic officers will heavily utilize psychological and behavioral
research to study various variables that impact the habit of the enforcement officers.
The Monroe v. Pape case enhanced the use of psychological research in addressing civil
liabilities among police officers. Notably, various civil liability issues have been associated with
policing, including false arrest, violation of civil rights, and racial profiling of suspects. In such
instances, prosecutors can rely on psychological information from forensic psychology to either
incriminate or absolve an officer accused of civil liability. The court will require tabling of
independent research by forensic psychologists on the exact role of the enforcement officer in the
criminal activity. Based on interviews and individual studies, forensic officers can provide
convicting evidence of great significance in the legal dispute. The research will act as a basis that
will be relied upon in the civil case by the judges.
Similarly, forensic psychology research will largely conduct a forensic assessment of the
competence and insanity of the enforcement officers. The results from the assessment of
competence and insanity will be used in determining whether the enforcement officers are
answerable in violating the constitutional rights of the offender (Paul, 2015). Besides, forensic
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psychological research may depend on the observational theories to provide evidence that may
acquit an officer in a legal dispute. This may entail studying the police officers' ongoing
behavioral characteristics, which directly contributed to civil liability. As such, judges may use
this psychological research to grant privileges, immunity, and appropriate decisions in a criminal
case against the police officers.
Psychological information extracted from forensic psychology research has immense
repercussions for the law enforcement system. Law enforcement can heavily rely on forensic
information to understand human behavior and guide its officers regarding civil liabilities (Paul,
2015). It provides information critical in criminal profiling of individual police officers in the
instance of criminal or unlawful activities. Psychological information can be used to develop
theories that can victimize the entire law enforcement system. The evaluation of the officers'
mental state in forensic psychology means that each face individual civil lawsuits based on
mental information. In a legal dispute, the information provides a legal ground that touches
different law enforcement levels, such as local, state, and federal agencies. They are utilized in
police civil liability to criminalize and convict a law enforcement officer or provide a legal basis
that is used to support the officer during a criminal case.
PSYCHOLOGY IN JUSTICE SYSTEM 4
Reference
Paul, R. (2015). Forensic Psychology & Law Enforcement: Police Psychology. A journal of the
Walden University.
