Forensic psychology: opportunities and prospects

Criminal psychology, also called forensic psychology, is the study of the attitudes, thoughts, intentions, actions and thus reactions of criminals and everything involved in criminal behavior. The use of this term is rare in the scientific literature today, as it is generally understood that crime is behavior, and participation in a crime does not mean that someone is a criminal.

Accepted Practices

Many common practices of forensic psychology, such as profiling, have been discredited, and are no longer supported by scholars or professionals in the modern fields of forensic psychology or criminology. It is related to the field of criminal anthropology. The study takes a deep dive into the reasons why someone commits a crime, as well as reactions after the crime, whether on the run or in court. Criminal psychologists are often called as witnesses in court cases to help jurors understand the criminal's mind. Some types of psychiatry also deal with aspects of criminal behavior.

Criminal groups as an object of study of legal sciences and legal psychology

Criminal groups are the object of study of legal sciences - criminology, criminal law, criminology, as well as legal psychology (criminal, operational, investigative, preventive). In criminal law, a criminal offense is recognized as committed by a group if at least two persons jointly participated in the commission of the crime as its perpetrators

In criminological research, attention is paid to a number of formal characteristics of criminal groups, such as numbers, characteristics of composition, criminal specialization of the group, trends and patterns of group crime are established, and scientific recommendations for its prevention are developed. In forensic research, the features of the commission of various types of crimes by criminal groups are studied, the logical features of the commission of these acts are established, which allows them to be more effectively solved and the crimes investigated.

In criminal law, the corresponding classification of groups is analyzed: criminal group, organized group, criminal organization, and also considers the forms of complicity in a crime of group members - perpetrator, organizer, instigator, accomplice. This is necessary to qualify crimes, establish guilt and individualize sentencing. Legal psychology studies the socio-psychological phenomena and mechanisms inherent in criminal groups, allowing a deeper understanding of the features of their formation and functioning, which is necessary for solving many problems of law enforcement (solving, investigating group crimes, making judicial decisions, preventing group crimes.

The group is the microenvironment in which a person operates, as well as a factor influencing his behavior. It is no coincidence that group crimes, compared to individual ones, have a higher social danger, since in a group it is psychologically easier to commit a crime, the determination of hesitant individuals under the influence of other group members is strengthened, and the possibility of involving new persons in criminal activity increases.

Psychological contamination and criminal excitement are also important. Therefore, criminal legislation provides for more severe punishment for committing group crimes.

Famous foreign criminologist V. Fox Fr. (Fox V. Introduction to criminology. - M., 1980. - P. 194.)

Forensic psychology

Forensic psychology is the intersection of psychology and the justice system. This includes an understanding of fundamental legal principles, especially with regard to expert testimony and the specific subject area of ​​concern (for example, competence to stand trial, child custody, or workplace discrimination), as well as relevant jurisdictional considerations (for example, in the United States, the definition insanity in criminal trials differs from state to state) in order to be able to properly interact with judges, defense attorneys, and other legal professionals. This is well described in Bogomolova’s book “Forensic Psychology”.

Requirements and challenges of the profession

An important aspect of forensic psychology is the ability to testify in court as an expert witness, reformulating psychological findings into legal courtroom language, presenting information in a way that can be understood.

In addition, to be a credible witness, a forensic psychologist must understand the philosophy, rules, and standards of the judicial system. First of all, they must understand the rivalry system. There are also rules about evidence of hearsay and, most importantly, the exclusionary rule. Failure to have a firm understanding of these procedures will cause the forensic psychologist to lose credibility in the courtroom. A forensic psychologist may be trained in clinical, social, organizational, or any other area of ​​psychology. Typically, a forensic psychologist is designated as an expert in a specific area of ​​study. The number of areas of expertise in which a forensic psychologist qualifies as an expert increases with experience and reputation, as described in Forensic Psychology by S. N. Bogomolova.

Crime factors and socio-psychological approach to their analysis.

In the theory of criminology, crime is considered as a secondary phenomenon in relation to other social phenomena and processes that act as its causes and conditions. Moreover, among these social conditions and processes there are permanent and random ones that contribute to the growth of crime and reduce its level or change its structure. Various social conditions and processes are considered as crime factors in criminology: economic, political, legal, informational, demographic, cultural-ethnic, employment, material well-being, social security, as well as the level of education of the population, its legal consciousness and other qualitative features of social consciousness. The modern historical period is characterized by dynamic changes in many of those social conditions that act as factors for the growth or decline of crime. The extreme complexity of cause-and-effect relationships in the determination of crime, their hierarchy, nonlinearity, polysemy, and the presence of self-determination mechanisms indicate that the totality of crime factors is a highly complex system that cannot be described using a mathematical model. The influence of various factors on crime can only be determined relatively. One of the disadvantages of the traditional criminological study of crime factors is their consideration as adjacent without differentiation in the socio-psychological mechanism of people’s legal behavior, i.e. without revealing the influence of each factor on the subject of behavior: what ideas, expectations, motivations, decisions and, ultimately, legally significant actions it gives rise to.

Based on the principles of determinism and hierarchy, crime factors must be considered as a level system. The essence of this approach is that in the system of determinants of crime it is necessary to identify those that are causal and most significantly and directly influence the state of crime, as well as to establish those factors that act as secondary non-causal, indirect determinants. The causal factors that directly influence the state of crime include phenomena of the spiritual essence of members of society, primarily their moral and legal consciousness. These are personal and socio-psychological factors. They act as internal determinants of illegal or lawful behavior: what is the legal consciousness of members of society, so is their behavior. Internal determinants of crime are formed and manifested under the influence of external factors - the social conditions of people’s lives and related social influences. Social conditions and influences, in turn, represent a hierarchy of factors in the formation of the legal position of members of society and, in general, public legal consciousness, some of them are the most significant - primary, others are less significant.

Forensic psychoneurologists

Forensic neuropsychiatrists are commonly asked to serve as expert witnesses in cases involving brain injury. They may also deal with questions about whether a person is legally competent to stand trial. Questions asked in court by a forensic psychologist are generally not psychological questions, but are legal questions and the answer must be in a language the court can understand. For example, the court will often appoint a forensic psychologist to evaluate a defendant who is standing trial.

The court also often appoints a forensic psychologist to evaluate the defendant's state of mind at the time the crime was committed. This is called an assessment of the defendant's sanity or insanity (as it relates to criminal responsibility) at the time the crime was committed. These are not psychological issues, but rather legal ones. Thus, a forensic psychologist must be able to translate psychological information into a legal framework. As mentioned earlier, all these processes are perfectly described in “Forensic Psychology” by Viktor Obraztsov, Sappho Bogomolova).

Peculiarities

A forensic psychologist provides relevant expertise to the legal system. His understanding and explanation of certain aspects of psychological health can help in the investigation of complex cases. Members of the profession may serve as expert witnesses to explain complex psychological concepts to juries by providing counseling services regarding the criminal's mental state.

The peculiarities of the activity force a representative of the profession to engage in an investigation together with an investigator. He is also busy collecting evidence. His skills and experience make it possible to identify the motives for the offense committed. The specialist can confirm or refute the investigator’s version.

A sharp mind and quick wits help a forensic psychologist analyze the actions of a criminal and think through his future actions in advance.

The personal qualities of a forensic psychologist are important, as in any other profession. It is desirable that they smoothly transition into professional skills. A dreamy, impressionable person with a weak psyche will not be suitable for such a job. First of all, he is a good and inquisitive scientist. Most of his time is spent traveling to the crime scene and in the laboratory. You have to be present at the scenes of road accidents, murders and other crimes.

Regardless of gender, a forensic psychologist must remain calm. This is always a smart, well-read, strong-willed employee. He must concentrate on the task at hand, have instant reactions and excellent memory. The preliminary version is always based on the analysis of the evidence received. A forensic psychologist helps speed up the capture of the offender and subsequently prove his guilt.

Other responsibilities

Forensic psychologists may be called upon to provide sentencing recommendations, treatment recommendations, or any other information requested by the judge, such as information about mitigating factors, assessment of future risk, and the credibility of a witness. Forensic psychology also includes training and evaluating police officers or other law enforcement officials, providing law enforcement officers with criminal intelligence, and other ways of working with police departments. Forensic psychologists can work with any party in criminal or family law.

Psychiatrists and psychologists are licensed professionals who can evaluate both mental and physical health. They look for patterns in behavior to characterize the individuals behind a crime

Declaration of sane or insane

The question of competence before the court is a question of the current condition of the offender. This assesses the offender's ability to understand the charges brought against them, the possible outcome of conviction/acquittal on those charges, and their ability to assist counsel in the defense. The question of sanity/insanity or criminal responsibility is an assessment of the state of offenders at the time of the commission of the crime. This refers to their ability to understand what is right and what is wrong. The insanity defense is rarely used as it is very difficult to prove. If found insane, the offender is placed in a secure hospital facility for much longer than he would have served in prison.

Typology of offenders depending on the degree of danger to others

All offenders are classified depending on the degree of danger to others:

1. Robbers are sociable people who value social norms. They prefer to live at other people's expense. They easily control their behavior and love to make new acquaintances. These include fraudsters, corrupt officials, and persons forging valuable documents.
2. Thieves are characterized by flexible, less impulsive behavior. They easily establish interpersonal relationships and are not afraid of society. They may repent for what they have done.
3. Selfishly violent offenders. Often exhibit impulsive behavior. They disrespect laws and social norms and are aggressive towards others. They often indulge their desires and do not know how to restrain themselves.
4. Rapists are individuals who try to dominate in everything. Overcome any obstacles before the intended goal. They do not know how to perceive other people's feelings. They have little control over their desires. They constantly strive to express their “I”. They often show social withdrawal.
5. Murderers are impulsive offenders who often exhibit anxiety. Be careful about any innovations. They put their interests and experiences above all else. They don't value other people's lives. They are prone to conflict situations and do not know how to control themselves in society. Often irritable and restless.
6. Killers are criminals who have learned to make money by killing. They end other people's lives on someone else's orders. Other personalities are just goals for them. They are guided by cold calculations. Previously, they served in “hot spots” where they received military training. They are distinguished by increased caution, vigilance, and attentiveness. If we talk about character, we can highlight necrophilic traits, which manifest themselves in the desire to exterminate all living things. They control desires well and know how to behave correctly in society. Maintain composure in situations where other people would become confused. They are considered the most dangerous and elusive.

Female criminals are included in a separate group. They commit crimes to demonstrate their abilities and attract everyone's attention. After what they did they feel guilty.

Responsibilities of criminal psychologists

Obraztsov’s book “Forensic Psychology” describes four ways in which a psychologist can act when professionally participating in a criminal trial. Here they are:

• Clinical: In this situation, a psychologist is involved in assessing the individual to give a clinical opinion. The psychologist may use assessment instruments, interviews, or psychometric instruments. These assessments can help the police or other comparable organizations determine how to treat the individual. For example, to help determine whether he or she is competent to stand trial or whether the person has a mental illness that relates to whether he or she is unable to understand the proceedings.
• Experimental: In this case, the task of the psychologist is to carry out a study. This may include conducting experimental tests to illustrate the point or provide additional information to the courts.
• Actuarial: This role involves using statistics to inform a case. For example, a psychologist may be asked to provide the probability of an event occurring, or courts may ask how likely a person is to re-litigate if a conviction is thrown out.
• Advisory: Here the psychologist can advise the police on how to proceed with the investigation. For example, how best to interview a person, how best to cross-examine, how an offender will act after committing a crime.

Profiling

The bulk of criminal psychology, known as criminal profiling, began in the 1940s when the United States Office of Strategic Services asked William L. Langer's brother, renowned psychiatrist Walter C. Langer, to profile Adolf Hitler. After World War II, British psychologist Lionel Howard, while working for the Royal Air Force Police, compiled a list of characteristics that high-ranking war criminals might have to identify them among ordinary captured soldiers and airmen.

Lombroso's contribution

The famous Italian psychologist Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909) is believed to have been one of the first criminologists to attempt to formally classify criminals by age, gender, physical characteristics, education and geographic region. By comparing these similar characteristics, he better understood the origins of motivation for criminal behavior, and in 1876 he published his book Criminal Man.

Lombroso studied 383 Italian prisoners. Based on his research, he suggested that there are three types of criminals. There were natural born criminals who were degenerates and criminally insane and suffered from mental illness. The scientist also found specific physical characteristics: several examples included facial asymmetry, eye defects and features, ears of unusual size, etc.

Preface

The study of criminals is not only of very serious theoretical interest, but also of enormous practical importance. The underworld is very diverse in its composition. It contains a wide variety of types, deeply interesting both from a psychological point of view and from a cultural and everyday perspective. Each of them requires a special approach both from the criminal investigation authorities, investigation and court, and from the penitentiary officials executing court sentences. Judicial and penitentiary workers increasingly feel the need for criminal psychological knowledge that would help them understand those people with whom they have to deal in their practical activities, and find out to what extent and in what respect these people are socially dangerous , and therefore, what should be done with them to protect society from their possible attacks. It is not enough to say that a person is socially dangerous. We need to find out what exactly it is about it that makes it dangerous, and to what extent it is dangerous. It is not enough to advise observing criminals. It is necessary to find out what exactly should be the subject of observation and study in the criminal, answers to what questions should be sought in the observation data and how, accordingly, to conduct the observation itself. The criminal should not be an object of simple curiosity, in which something that seems curious is haphazardly collected, such as, for example, various, sometimes intricate and strange, tattoos, individual words of jargon, etc.

A methodical, scientific study is needed, which would be aimed, first of all, at what is really important and necessary to know about the criminal for the correct implementation of the fight against crime and the possible progress of criminal justice. What is needed is a study that would know what and why it is looking for in a criminal, would be imbued with a clear consciousness of the relative significance and internal connection of the tasks being solved, would highlight what is really important, giving the details their due back place

The author has long spoken about the need for a systematic criminal psychological study of criminals. Gradually, he developed a plan for such a study, outlined a range of the most important issues to be studied, and accumulated a large amount of material, gleaned from his constant visits to places of detention and courtrooms. Some of this material will find a place on the pages of this book and will be subjected to theoretical coverage. One presentation of individual cases, without illuminating the theoretical principles of their vital significance, is devoid of value and interest, leaving the reader with unclear questions: “well, what of this, what follows from here? What is the significance of this or that aspect of the described case? etc. Therefore, the author prefaced the presentation of individual examined cases with well-known theoretical principles, which he then used to explain these cases.

The main idea that guided the author is that the deepest roots of crime are hidden in the constitution of the criminal, which is created and changed under the influence, on the one hand, of the external and, above all, social conditions surrounding the person, and on the other hand, of the what the body of a given subject received as an inheritance from its ancestors. The concept of the constitution, as a well-known permanent framework on which the individual experiences of the individual and in general the manifestations of its functioning are based, has won a strong place in the field of natural science, in particular in the medical sciences. In order for the study of crime to stand at a level that fully corresponds to the level of modern scientific requirements, next to the study of the crime itself, its nature and the causes that give rise to it, there must be a thorough and possibly comprehensive study of the personality of the criminal, in which the concept of the constitution and constitutional factors of crime must be given a central place.

The author began a systematic, systematic study of prisoners in Moscow places of detention three years ago, in which he was provided with valuable assistance by his assistants: M. K. Aleksandrov-Dolnik, S. L. Voronov, A. S. Ivanov, N. G. Kelberer, A. A. Klimushkin, B. M. Naumov, O. S. Poznyshev, M. P. Revidtsev, O. A. Skvortsova, V. S. Spanovsky, I. Y. Stankevich, N. V. Terziev and P. S. Tsvetkov. The author considers it his pleasant duty to express his gratitude to them here. At the same time, the author expresses his gratitude to the Main Directorate of Places of Detention, represented by its former and current leaders - L. A. Savrasov, E. G. Shirvindt and L. Ya. Kornblit; for kindly providing free access to places of detention for scientific research.

Forward """

Further researchers

In the 1950s, American psychiatrist James A. Brussel developed what turned out to be an incredibly accurate profile of the man who terrorized New York City.

There were films based on the fictional works of author Thomas Harris that brought the profession to the public's attention, notably The Headhunter (1986) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). The most rapid development occurred when the FBI opened its training academy, the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), in Quantico, Virginia.

This led to the creation of the National Violent Crime Analysis Center and the Criminal Apprehension Program. The idea was to create a system that could identify connections between major unsolved crimes.

According to the book Forensic Psychology (V.A. Obraztsova, S.N. Bogomolova), in the United Kingdom, Professor David Kanter was an innovator who helped lead police detectives from the mid-1980s on the trail of a criminal who had committed a series of serious attacks. He and a colleague coined the term "investigative psychology" and tried to approach the subject from what they considered a more scientific point of view.

Where to go to study to become a forensic expert

The position of forensic expert is accepted with a higher education in the specialty “Forensic Expertise” (code - 40.05.03). These are only universities; colleges do not provide such education. The form of education is full-time, you need to study for 5 years. The diploma will include the qualification “forensic expert”.

All universities have a system of benefits and quotas for admission, and individual achievements are taken into account. The general requirement for applicants is completed secondary or secondary vocational education. In other words, 11 grades of school or 9 grades plus college. After 9th grade, they don’t teach you to become a criminologist anywhere.

Before submitting documents, you need to clearly understand your prospects. The fact is that only departmental educational institutions accept people to serve as criminologists in the police. They have their own training standards and target program. If you graduate from a civilian university, you can work as an expert, but not in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Rules for admission to universities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

There are only three departmental universities in Russia where they teach to become forensic experts:

• Moscow University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia;
• St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia;
• Volgograd Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

Recruitment is carried out on a free basis or by referral from the police department. Only citizens of the Russian Federation under the age of 25 can apply.

To be allowed to take part in the tests, one must undergo professional psychological testing and a medical examination by a regular military medical commission. Based on the result, the applicant must be recognized as fit for military service (1–3 destination groups are suitable).

Based on the Unified State Exam results, Russian language and social studies are taken into account. Additional tests are carried out separately - presentation in the Russian language and standards for physical training. This is a 100 m run, a kilometer cross-country and pull-ups on the horizontal bar for young people, and for girls - a complex strength exercise. All this is assessed in points. There is a passing minimum, and those who reach it participate in the competition.

Video: how to pass physical training at the Ministry of Internal Affairs university

Rules for admission to civilian universities

In regular universities, the rules will be less strict. Foreigners are accepted for training, physical training is not required, and the age limit is limited only within reason. You can study at a budget or paid department. For admission, only Unified State Examination results are required. If they are not there, the exams are taken by commissions. Required subjects are social studies, Russian language and history.

Table: competitive conditions in civilian universities for the specialty “Forensic Expertise”

Essence and prospects

Criminal profiling, also known as criminal profiling, is the process of linking a criminal's actions at a crime scene to his most likely characteristics to help police investigators prioritize the most likely suspects. Profiling is a relatively new and emerging field of forensic psychology, which over the past 20 years has evolved from what was once called an art into a rigorous science. Criminal profiling, which is part of the field of forensic psychology called investigative psychology, is based on increasingly rigorous methodological advances and empirical research.