What is Forensic Psychology and how can it help me?

When we see ourselves immersed in a legal proceeding, we are assailed, in addition to the most immense fears, by a sea of ​​doubts about what to expect, how to proceed and who to turn to.

Terminologies are used to which we are little accustomed and, among many other actions that must be carried out, It is common for our legal representation to recommend that we contact a forensic psychologist in order to have an expert psychological report, which only arouses more fears... What is a psychological expert report? What do I need it for? What is it going to do for me? Let's clarify concepts and resolve doubts.

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What is Forensic Psychology?

Forensic Psychology is that branch of Legal Psychology that takes place in the forum (from the Latin forensis, place where justice is administered) or, in other words, in the courts, which is why it is also often called psychology applied to the courts.

Recognized by the collegiate body since 1998, this discipline aims to issue expert reports, which justifies that this science is also known as expert psychology, which is exercised by forensic psychologists or psychologists experts.

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Who is and what does a Forensic Psychologist do?

Broadly speaking, a forensic psychologist is one professional graduated in psychology who has specialized training in the expert field and who applies his knowledge about the human being to the legal field.

His appointment may be at the request of a party or by judicial appointment, that is, the person immersed in the process may well be interested in his services. procedure privately (both the plaintiff and the defendant), a judge may well do it by using the professional intervention lists of associations of psychologists or requesting the participation of the technical advisory teams of the Administration of Justice (EATP, SATAF, etc.).

Be that as it may, the main function of the psychologist in the forensic field is to carry out psycho-legal assessments of legal actors, issuing a Forensic Psychological Report with the ultimate purpose of advising the judges in their decision-making (judicial resolution) without that this means, in any way, to condition such provisions, exclusive competence of the judge.

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What is a Psychological Expert Report?

The Expert Psychological Report or Forensic Psychological Report is a document that presents specific structural and content characteristics that are well differentiated from those of a clinical or traditional Psychological Report.

Without wanting to go into details due to the complexity involved in each of the documents, the main difference between the two is that the Clinical Report, Taking into account the objective pursued by Clinical Psychology, it is conceived as a non-essential instrument in the field of health, while in the Forensic field is an end in itself, since the expert evaluation ends with its writing and subsequent defense at the hearing given its nature as evidence judicial.

In this sense, the Psychological Expert tries to support and defend a thesis, so that will serve as a means of proof in a procedure, responding to the questions that motivated its preparation, which vary according to the jurisdiction from which they derive: Civil and Family, Criminal or Labor.

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What is a Psychological Expert Report for?

In the Civil and Family Jurisdiction, forensic psychological reports are usually recommended in Guardianship and Custody procedures for evaluate the parental competences of the parents, the effect that the separation or divorce has had on the minors or make recommendations regarding the most recommended regimen of parent-child contacts for each family unit.

Likewise, also in the civil sphere, after the recent entry into force of Law 8/2021, which eliminates the judicial incapacitation procedure, psychological experts assess the person's capacity for self-government and help to determine the support measures that may be necessary for the promotion of their autonomy.

In the Criminal Jurisdiction, forensic psychological examinations evaluate the circumstances that could modify the criminal responsibility (imputability) of the perpetrators, as well as the damage and psychological consequences, among others, of the victims. Proper to this field is also the Psychology of Testimony by which the expert psychologist will seek to determine the plausibility of the account of witnesses and victims of unlawful acts.

It is also common to request the services of forensic psychologists to specify psychopathologies or psycho-affective alterations in the workplace. In this sense, in the Labor Jurisdiction, psychological expert reports help to elucidate the causality or concausality relationship between altered mental states and situations of Workplace Harassment (mobbing) or professional burnout (burnout) and others. In the same way, the psychological experts in this field can serve to justify the request for incapacitations. employment (temporary or permanent), as well as to challenge discharges based on the psychological examination of the employee.

In conclusion

In short, Forensic Psychology aims to evaluate people in order to clarify their relationship with the facts that are being judged, either determining what personal psycho-affective aspects have promoted the execution of the unlawful act or have been altered as a consequence of the fact court.

In addition, it seeks to determine character aspects that are relevant to the procedure, pursuing the ultimate goal of offer specialized technical advice to judges through the preparation of a Forensic Report that not only explains the exploration carried out, but also offers conclusions and recommendations regarding the issues that have motivated the psychological evaluation forensic.

In this way, then, if you need to technically justify some aspect when you are immersed in a judicial procedure, a psychological expert can be a great instrument.