Forensic Psychology: Bones Or Criminal Minds

Forensic psychology is often times associated with what people see in the TV series such as “Bones” or “Criminal Minds”. Forensic psychology, as defined by the American Psychological Association, is “the professional practice by psychologists within areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology or another specialty” (APA, 2016). Within this field, the psychologist should be engaged as an expert of this specialty, and “emphasizes the application of research and experimentation in other areas of psychology (e.g., cognitive psychology, social psychology)” to provide answers to questions and issues regarding the law to the judicial system (Ward, 2013). Also, crime prevention is an important role in the field of forensic

Forensic social workers however, were just recently added to the team. Forensic psychiatrist are often associated with criminal courts, social workers with juvenile courts and psychologist with written forensic evaluations that include symptoms and capacities of people involved relevant to legal questions. In the case of UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. ROBERT N. HICKS, Defendant. No. 3:14-CR-85, the defendant was evaluated by Forensic Psychologist Jessica Micono. Ms. Micono’s professional role was to evaluate the defendant 's competency to stand trial, as well as evaluate the defendant 's sanity at the time of the offenses. She was to determine whether the defendant had a mental disease resulting from substance abuse, and if his mental capacity diminished due to a mental disease or defect he was suffering from. Upon completing the assessments, Ms. Micono found the defendant to be suffering from schizophrenia and recommended treatment and competency restoration. The role of forensic psychologist, often times are to provide a forensic examination. For this article, the role of forensic psychologist as the expert witness will be used in regards to “ethical issues of concern for psychologists who are engaged in personality assessment in forensic settings such as for courts or attorneys” (Knapp, & VandeCreek, 2001). The forensic psychologist can either be a court-appointed evaluator or an employee of an attorney (Knapp, & VandeCreek, 2001). Since attorneys hire these psychologists, due to attorney-client privileges the attorney can pick and choose what information will be provided to the court of law. The ethical role of a forensic psychologist as an expert witness is just about the same as a regular psychologist. It involves being competent, informing consent, respecting the