Forensic Psychology Essay -- Papers

Forensic Psychology 1). Forensic Psychology is the application of the theories of psychology to law and the legal system. Issues of violence and its impact on individuals and/or groups delineate the main and central concerns in Forensics within the adult, juvenile, civil, and family domains. Forensic psychologists provide advice to legislators, judges, correctional officers, lawyers, and the police. They are called upon, for example, to serve as an expert witness, diagnose and treat incarcerated and probationed offenders, and screen and evaluate personnel in the law enforcement and judicial systems. Forensics encompasses a wide range of academic orientation. Synonyms for Forensic psychologists include criminal psychologist, correctional psychologists, police psychologists, and social-legal psychologists. However, Forensics is considered a single discipline. Just as one social psychologist may focus on group behavior while another may focus on interpersonal interaction, Forensic Psychology is best consi dered as a large all-encompassing field, for which correctional, police, and legal psychology are all sub-disciplines. 2). Erich Fromm defines benign aggression as a brief reaction to protect us from danger. In contrast, malignant aggression is hurting others purely for the sadistic pleasure. Fromm believes people feel helplessly compelled to conform to the rules of society, at work, and to authority everywhere. This lack of freedom to make decisions and the inability to find meaning and love in one's life causes resentment and sometimes malignant, sadistic aggression. How and where does this hostility show itself? Some people get pleasure from hurting, killing, and destroying; Hitler was a prime example: he killed 15 to 20... ...de where fires are set in or around the home and result in attention from family, friends, and neighbors. The instrumental person's act is usually characterized by a desire to resolve interpersonal conflict by setting fire to a building in a retaliative way, external to the arsonist. This offence often involves prior threats to the victim plus a specific behavioral trigger just prior to the attack. The expressive arsonist's object of target is on very public buildings affording as much public attention as possible and thus increases psychological relief for the fire setter. Emotionally charged 'non-specific' triggers are common prior to the event. These offenders will often return to the scene and observe and participate in the response. The Instrumental object of the instrumental fire setter is generally a means of achieving some criminal goal such as theft.