Analysis of WhatsApp conversations to prove cases of violation

The widespread use of new technologies in all strata of our society allows professionals in psychology to have new strategies to analyze relevant information in the processes of expertise psychological.

And it is that although part of the psychological processes are in practice subjective, in situations in which there are forensic implications, said Phenomena are externalized in a wide variety of objective elements, such as conversations that take place on social media platforms. chat.

That's why, the analysis of WhatsApp conversations is among the functions that forensic psychologists perform on a regular basis. In this case, we will focus on seeing how WhatsApp message exchange analysis is carried out when testing violation cases.

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What is conversation analysis in the context of forensic psychology?

Forensic psychology serves to, among other things, provide information on relevant psychological phenomena to take into account when resolving legal proceedings. For this reason, psychologists trained in this area are hired to apply their knowledge and technical skills to the when analyzing cases and adding relevant information that helps to clarify what happened in the events that have given rise to a judgment. It should be noted that forensic psychologists do not work as part of the defense or the prosecution; Although they are usually contracts by one of the parties,

they adopt a position of neutrality and their main task is to analyze and extract objectively valuable information (although in practice this may benefit one of the parties). This information can serve both to understand what has happened, and to qualify or question what was indicated in previous reports.

In this sense, the analysis of conversations is not a way to presuppose in an interested way the intentions and beliefs held by the people involved in a communicative exchange that has taken place produced; rather, it allows us to put the accent on indications and evidence that can help to clarify a case that is being investigated in the judicial context, so that judges, lawyers and prosecutors have all the information possible. In this way, this kind of analysis is used to, among other things:

• Provide evidence that at the time of the conversation one or more people were aware of a forensically relevant event.
• Show signs of altered states of consciousness at any given time
• Show indications that prior to that conversation, acts of violence may have occurred between the people who are speaking or other forms of crime or crime.
• Show indications that one or more people participating in the conversation were planning to commit a crime or crime.
• Show signs of unequal power dynamics, or psychological manipulation, emotional blackmail, etc.

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What is the expert psychological report?

The expert psychological report is the essential report prepared by forensic psychologists to provide the judge with the objective elements necessary in any judicial process in which it must be decided whether or not a specific crime has been committed.

It is a scientific and objective report carried out by forensic psychology professionals through the application of strategies based on the scientific method.

The primary objective of this type of report is to help understand what happened in relation to relevant aspects such as the mental health of the people involved, the possible psychological consequences caused by illegality, the parental powers of two people in divorce proceedings and conflict over child custody, etc Conversation analysis is one of the expert resources used in preparing the expert psychological report.

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How does WhatsApp conversation analysis work to prove cases of violation?

WhatsApp is the most widely used instant messaging application in the world, with more than 2 billion users worldwide, and is also the tool used by millions of people around the world to communicate quickly and efficiently.

Through the analysis of the conversations carried out via WhatsApp, it can help to prove serious crimes committed against freedom of people, such as rape, one of those that have the most impact on the victim, both physically and psychological. Conversations often reflect "traces" of what happened or what is about to happen, so that thanks to the information they provide, it is easier to clarify questions about whether there have been episodes of violence or No.

Psychologists often analyze these kinds of conversations to find clues to what might constitute a crime or to prove the There are psychological traces, although it should be clarified that in order to prove any crime in the course of a judicial process, it is not an expert psychological analysis is always necessary (it depends on the circumstances and the degree of material evidence from which has).

Thus, people who have been the victim of a rape and have WhatsApp conversations that prove said crime can use these contents, if both psychologists and lawyers consider it so, in a process judicial; in this case, information stored on electronic devices can be accessed to demonstrate that those exchanges of messages have not been manipulated and that they are part of a history of interaction between the defendant and victim.

When the content posted on the chat platform consists of conversations between the victim and the aggressor about what happened, this provides a large amount of information about the criminal event that has allegedly been committed, and although technically it is not material evidence that conclusively demonstrates what what has happened (if there are no videos or photographs), allows, for example, to show inconsistencies or directly apparent falsehoods in the discourse of the defending.

That is to say, that the information extracted through psychological expertise helps to strengthen and weaken defense and prosecution arguments depending on whether they correspond more or less to what is reflected in the expert reports. For this reason, said report should not be seen in itself as "evidence" but as a contextual element that allows a more global vision of what happened and stabilizes or destabilizes lines of accusation and defense, on which Ockham's razor is applied: why would the accused party behave as if he had not committed a crime that he did not has committed?

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Are you looking for forensic psychology services?

In Azor&Associates we have many years of experience dedicating ourselves to both psychotherapy and expert psychology, and WhatsApp conversation analysis is one of our most used tools in processes judicial. We can handle your case in person or online.