Relationship of individual psychology with criminal sciences

Relationship of psychology with law

Law and psychology are considered as sciences that from their perspective treat in a common way the behavior of man, man in society, its repercussions, its form of expression and in general all human manifestations that need analysis, respecting each area from the corresponding point.

It is understood that life in society, a common factor between Psychology and Law, is not reduced only to the psychological, nor to the legal, but is related to various paradigms such as the biological, social, etc., where all influence between yes resulting in overt social behavior. The great unknown posed by "should be" or "should not be" is related in turn to the development of morality that Psychology tries to define through different perspectives but that matters so much to Law and that therefore ends up being another meeting point between both sciences within the social context.

We have seen that the role of Psychology within the administration of justice begins with the following three points:

Psychology of Law: where it is established that the law is full of psychological components, and that psychology is necessary so that the law as such can function properly, which is observed in the approach of many of the criminal articles such as the case of the criteria for "unimputability." Psychology in Law: where the same idea is taken, which studies legal norms as verbal stimuli, which try to retract certain behaviors, so that the application and formulation of behaviors requires the contribution of Psychology, to achieve legal effectiveness by the subjects involved in compliance with these rules.Psychology for Law: in which psychology acts as an auxiliary to Law when it needs information about its purposes,their strategies or to interpret facts relating to specific cases.

It is this third point that deserves additional comment when posing psychology as "auxiliary", just as the other sciences such as Medicine and others are also considered as "auxiliary." Any science that contributes to Law should be considered as a necessary means to obtain the historical truth of the facts through tests of various kinds, without placing these sciences in a state of optional subordination as suggested by the term 'auxiliary'.

The advancement of psychology as a science has been of great progress in the field within the application in Justice, so that a joint work in search of the truth justifies a coordinated and multidisciplinary work, since all these sciences are seeking the same objective: the historical truth of the events that Justice will generate. Moreover, the fact of considering "auxiliary" to the sciences or techniques that contribute to the Law can be a risk, when opting for that option only in case of emergency.

The fact of having stated that both psychology and law have in common the "object of intervention", which is none other than the "conduct of the person", is intended to show not only how common both fields have, but also the need of a coordinated work between both. The Psychology Applied to the Courts or Forensic Psychology refers to those activities that the Psychologist can carry out in the forum. In this way, it is understood as the «science that teaches the application of all branches and knowledge of Psychology to the questions of Justice, and cooperates at all times with the Administration of Justice, acting in the forum (court), improving the exercise of Law »(Urra, 1993). By including both sciences the human person as an individual in her uniqueness and also as being responsible for her actions,.behaviors and their ability to handle them, is that the inclusion of Psychology is very useful when analyzing the reason for the criminal behavior of a person. It is in this sense that Psychology becomes a means of evidence, whose work contributes to providing a relevant and conducive element for the resolution of the processes that require it.

In the work of the psychologist in the field of Law, it has undergone several names over the years, such as: Legal Psychology, Law, Forensic, Judicial, Criminological, etc. Today the term most used to refer globally to the application of Psychology for Law is that of Legal Psychology, a sub-specialty of Psychology that includes the following applications: Forensic Psychology (preparation of reports and expertise), Assistance (therapy and analysis of security and resocialization measures), Victimology (analysis of the role and elements of the aggrieved people), Psychology of Testimony (assessment of credibility of testimonies and taking them), Mediation (search for a favorable alternative for the parties without going to trial or making it non-contentious).

In the first instance, Legal Psychology could be defined as: "the application of science and the profession of psychology to legal issues and issues" and from this approach it is possible to establish the different instances and areas of application.

As is well known, Law is a science with a history of many centuries, however the inclusion of other sciences was not necessary except through the development of humanity. Thus, at the end of the Middle Ages, as it was emerging from feudalism, the need to rely on concrete and specific evidence to verify certain facts, from more than one source, was generated.

History has also been uniting or finding common ground between Psychology and Law as the study of theory to collaborate in the elaboration of laws or to question them when the investigation finds contrary results. In the same way, Psychology was introduced to analyze the behavioral parameters in courtrooms, as well as the importance of studying attitudes and values about justice and the interest in analyzing the processes of legal socialization, etc.

Lin Ching, Céspedes (2002) raises a series of historical facts that have marked the development of Psychology in the legal field:

In 1792, through Eckardts Ahusen, the need to review psychological knowledge to judge crimes was raised, which further deepened the aforementioned ideas.

In 1808, Hoffbauer published a classic called "Psychology in its main applications in the Administration of Justice", which other authors were complementing with the topics of "Legal-psychological relationship", "Judicial Psychopathology" and "Criminal Psychology".

When experimental Psychology was born in the 20th century, it can be said that Forensic Psychology was also born through Stern (1903), Jaffe (1903), Binet (1905), Freud (1906) and Lobsein (1906). Münsterberg published his book "The witness on the bench" in 1908, to raise not only the importance of the veracity of a testimony, but the need for the presence of a Psychologist in the legal system, ideas that received much criticism and acceptance of the same weather.

For the sixties there was a historical fact that definitively marked the serious approach to psychological intervention in the Law: the Jenkins case in the United States (1962), where in principle an expert report of schizophrenia on the accused was rejected, causing him in a The beginning of his conviction, which was protested by the "American Psychiatric Association" to such an extent that the expertise had to be accepted as evidence, causing the court ruling to be changed and thus marking the beginning of the formal acceptance of a psychological expertise as a conclusive evidence. For this case, the Appeal of Cassation was appealed as a legal figure, which allowed the ruling to be reviewed through psychological expertise that was proven to be correct and valid.

In 1964, Eysenck, a well-known psychologist published the work "Crime and Personality", which was followed by other colleagues with other texts regarding jury selection and Psychology in law making.

The nineties actually represent the establishment of Legal Psychology. The judicial processes of most of the world were in some way permanently including the psychologist in her various actions within the legal jurisdiction. At the same time, different dissemination and academic training events were promoted to generate a suitable professional, as well as the preparation of different specialized publications.

Currently, the diversity of experiences within socialized psycho-legal work throughout the world has generated a revaluation and a reflection on the role of Legal Psychology in order to improve the understanding of legal phenomena, as well as the effectiveness of its application.

All the movements that sought and paved the way for Psychology in Law were driven by the need for new strategies to obtain new and secure evidence on the veracity of the testimonies, the elaboration of instruments beyond the traditional ones and specific aspects of the evaluation of the different types of crimes and that they were valid and reliable in their application, as well as generating new forms of intervention in prison treatment to favor a positive re-socialization and in general propose new useful and effective investigation techniques, in addition of research for a more realistic effectiveness in the enactment of laws.

The influence and contribution that Psychology was generating was so much that it even participated in the change of legal regulations itself, given its ability to understand social problems, resizing the analysis of the criminological phenomenon in Law, as well as reinterpreting norms and trying adapt them to the needs of man in the legal movement.

Given these historical concepts relating Psychology and Law, it is also necessary to point out how Psychology currently manifests itself in the different legal areas, that is, what are the different applications in criminal, family, civil, labor matters, etc. However, the application of legal psychology in each country is different depending on the progress that the area has developed in the place and depending on the legal weight that the administration of Justice grants to Psychology itself.

In criminal matters, the following expertises can be carried out through Forensic Psychology or Psychiatry: most of the assessments are related to the imputability of the accused, that is, it seeks to establish whether the subject had sufficient volitional and cognitive faculties, such as to have acted in that way at that time and can be found guilty of those acts. In this sense, possible mental disorders, personality disorders, degree of affectation of the consumption of psychoactive substances, etc. Although the Forensic Psychologist issues an opinion, this implies a test within the process, which will be evaluated by the court.

conclusion

In conclusion, we could say that psychology and law are united thanks to the fact that they both have the same object of study, to know the destructiveness or development of the human being, in addition to looking for the reason for these behaviors known colloquially criminal, as they can be prevented and thanks to this idea there are today sciences such as Legal Psychology, Forensic Psychology and more thoroughly and specifically Criminological Psychology, therefore thanks to the existence of these sciences we can now reach the truth.

All these questions should lead to motivate the participating sciences to seek new ways of solving for the intervention of the Law, so that it will cover the needs of today's man, revealing the victory of Justice and not overcrowding in prisons. There is still a lot of ground to walk where what is needed is a broad scientific mind to seek new horizons within the framework of the multidisciplinary and coordinated work of all science that has the same purpose of Law: to do Justice.