Forensic psychology is a field within psychology where knowledge about people's thoughts, emotions, and behavior is applied in legal contexts. The subject is about how people function in situations related to crime, investigations, courts, and correctional care. Forensic psychology studies, among other things, why people commit crimes, how the risk of reoffending can be assessed, how interviews and investigations affect people's memories and accounts, and how psychological factors can play a role in legal processes. The field concerns offenders, victims, witnesses, police officers, judges, and other actors in the justice system.
Forensic psychiatry
One part of forensic psychology is called forensic psychiatry, a medical field in which psychiatric knowledge is applied within the justice system. This can involve examining and assessing people who have committed crimes when there is a suspicion that mental illness or serious psychological problems may have influenced their actions. Forensic psychiatry tries to determine whether the person suffered from a serious mental disorder when the crime was committed, and whether the person should therefore be sentenced to forensic psychiatric care instead of prison. Someone sentenced to forensic psychiatric care is meant to receive help with their psychological problems, with the aim of reducing the risk that the person commits new crimes. Forensic psychology is therefore about care, safety, and providing courts with a basis for legal decisions.
A help for the entire justice system
But not all forensic psychology is linked to psychiatry. Psychology can also be applied by, for example, police officers, to assess the risk of violence, understand motives behind crimes, and handle people with mental ill health or antisocial behavior. Psychology also helps the justice system in encounters with suspects, witnesses, and crime victims. It provides a better understanding of how stress, fear, and trauma affect people, and explains how interviews should be conducted in ways that reduce the risk of leading questions and false statements. In this way, forensic psychology can contribute to better investigations, safer assessments, and more professional treatment of people.