Forensic psychologists
Introduction
Throughout life, it is vital to have certain morals and ethics enforced in every job title. In the field of criminal justice, morals and ethics are important because their work is to enforce laws, protect, and serve United States citizens. To fulfill the duties in any criminal justice profession, various morals, and ethics influence and govern them. In the profession of forensic psychologists, it is required that one conducts research, provides therapeutic services, and gives advice. This paper will create a set of core, ethical beliefs, and moral requirements of forensic psychologists.
Job Description
Also known as criminal profilers, Forensic psychologists create psychological profiles of offenders for criminal justice organizations (Goldstein, 2003). Forensic psychology involves several disciplines, including criminal justice and law, psychology, and addressing issues of judicial and legislative nature. Forensic psychologists not only deal with criminology, but their work is a mixture of clinical psychology, forensics, use of research, and other disciplines to various issues, including victim rights and issues affecting families (Goldstein, 2003). Forensic psychology is a young filed which gained recognition in the year 1981 as a unique division of the American Psychological Association (Pozzulo, Forth & Bennell, 2009). Since this time, forensic psychology has become broad, representing both forensic and clinical employees that try to comprehend the connection between law and psychology. Forensic psychology aims to safeguard human rights, promote integrity, and develop well-being by using psychological ideologies to lawful matters.
There are various job responsibilities for forensic psychologists. Nonetheless, most of their jobs are connected to the criminal justice system. In the judiciary, forensic psychologists play a significant role in explaining offenders’ mental functioning (Wrightsman, 2001). They may often be required by district attorneys to assess an offender, deliver a psychological evaluation, and attest in court about their results. These evaluations can vary from assessing the incidence of mental illness to determine if an offender has altered mental ability. Often, forensic psychologists will work with victims in both a therapeutic and investigative capacity. In most cases, they perform investigations on domestic violence, child abuse, and give victims of such crimes, treatments.
As mentioned above, offenders’ psychological profiles are just one of the many responsibilities of a forensic psychologist. Criminal profiling comprises research, which includes the assessment of crime scene evidence for clues that match the criminal’s physical traits such as race, age, weight, and factors that motivated the crime (Muller, 2000). Part of the criminal profiling process is to help police officers to possible offenders and recommend effective approaches to question suspects.
Forensic psychologists also work in correctional facilities. While working in these areas, their responsibilities include performing assessments and screening on prisoners, administering psychological assessments ordered by courts, consulting attorneys, judicial personnel, and prison staff on prisoners’ mental welfare (Birgden & Perlin, 2009). Forensic psychologists also offer psychological health care to prisoners by forming group therapies that help treat substance use or anger issues.
The work settings of forensic psychologists can be overwhelming. Most of them use most of their time in jails to evaluate and talk to individuals who do not want their assistance. Their evaluations are mainly utilized as witness testimonials in courts and trial hearings, and for this reason, they regularly spend time in these strict environs. When conducting their prison activities, forensic psychologists are required to observe jail guidelines and be frisked before entering prison, and their actions have to be recorded.
Law enforcement officers that handle various crimes pay attention to numerous factors in a crime scene. However, they are not professionals in understanding human thinking. Forensic psychologists assist law enforcement officers in finalizing cases by elaborating on the type of person expected to compel a specific sort of crime and what their upbringing may be like. This helps police officers come up with a list of possible offenders and aim at the possible individuals to have engaged in a crime.
Forensic psychologists also assist courts by evaluating individuals suspected of engaging in a certain crime (Archer, Buffington-Vollum, Stredny & Handel, 2006). This is vital because it helps courts decide whether an individual should be held responsible for certain actions. Forensic psychologists can help assess the possibility of an offender to commit the same crime after he or she is released. Also, forensic psychologists are regularly called to testify in courts. Judges often ask forensic psychologists what they should consider when deciding on the sentence to give an offender.
Stakeholders
Some of the stakeholders connected to forensic psychologists include judges, law enforcement officers, parole officers, attorneys, prison officers, probation officers, and court personnel. Those persons who impose and interpret the law are part of the stakeholders that a forensic psychologist deals with internally. Suspects of a crime and those convicted are also considered internal stakeholders that a forensic psychologist deals with. All these stakeholders are linked to each other and impact one another. All these stakeholders are required to do their work effectively to make a forensic psychologist’s work successful.
Practical Work Scenarios where Ethical Decision Making and Moral Action must be taken
One work scenario was the case “The Murder of Leanne Tiernan.” In this case, it was discovered that the dog collar found on Tiernan’s body was manufactured by a company located in Nottingham, which had sold the same collar to 220 distinct wholesalers. Tiernan was covered with a black plastic bag over her head and held in place using a dog collar, a scarf, and cable tie around her neck and holding her wrists together. Law enforcement officers searched for the manufacturers of the dog collar and found that a man from Bramley had bought few pieces of the same collar found on Tiernan’s neck. The man was known as John Taylor, a poacher seen around the woods where Tiernan’s body was found. The string used was a unique one used for rabbit nets whose supplier was tracked down in Devon. The twine matched one that was found in John Taylor’s home. The scarf around Tiernan’s neck had a few hairs around the knot, which were not enough for DNA profiling. After a thorough investigation, forensic scientists found a strand of a pink carpet fiber on Tiernan clothes that contained certain dye patterns. Even though John Taylor had ruined the carpet by setting it on fire, law enforcement officers located strands around a nail that coordinated the fiber on Tiernan’s jumper (Wiltshire, 2006). When they investigated under floorboards, the police found stains of blood that forensic scientists recognized as those of Leanne Tiernan.
Another scenario is “The Murder of Marianne Vaatstra.” This case clearly defines how criminal cases of assault, rape, and murder go unsolved, and wrongdoers go unpunished. In this case, law enforcement officers arrested many people and help a great deal of DNA search to find the culprit. The individual of this crime was barely found, and following 13 years of unproductive search, the police had chosen to stop the search. The traits of a man’s DNA found in the crime scene made investigators believe that the offender could be a local. After mass DNA screening was allowed, the police decided to screen all men aged between 16 and 60 (Kayser, 2017). This was done to identify if anyone shared the same DNA with the culprit and may be related to him. The police believed that by doing this, they would identify the murderer. On 6th September, the department of justice publicized that 7,300 males from the area surrounding the crime scene were required to donate their DNA. More than 89% of this number willingly gave their DNA for testing, and these DNA samples were loaded into the Bonaparte database (Kayser, 2017). After Bonaparte processed the samples, a match was found. A second DNA analysis of buccal cells from the suspect was done and confirmed a match. After the match was confirmed, the DNA screening process was terminated. A follow-up investigation was carried out by the Public Prosecution Service which, led to the apprehending of a suspect on 18th November 2012 who later confessed on the crime on 6th December the same year (Kayser, 2017).
Lastly, “The Lindbergh Kidnapping” is also a work set-up in which ethical decisions were made and moral action taken. This case involved the kidnapping of a 20-month-old boy who was the son of a well-known aviator. After he was kidnapped, a payment of $50,000 was asked and delivered, but the child was never given back (Mitchell, 2006). His body was later discovered a few miles from his home in May 1932. While searching for the circulation of bills used to pay the money, the police discovered Bruno Hauptmann, who was found with more than $14,000 in his garage (Mitchell, 2006). Even though Bruno argued that the money belonged to a friend, a testament from handwriting analysts proved that his handwriting matched with that used on the payment notes. Also, forensic investigators matched the wood in Bruno’s loft to the wood used in the ladder that abductors used to get to the child’s bedroom window. Bruno was arrested and imprisoned in 1936 (Mitchell, 2006).
Ethical Theories
The two ethical theories applicable to the work scenarios are utilitarianism and deontology. Utilitarianism ethical theory argues that the purpose of morality is to make life better by amplifying the worthy things such as contentment and desire and decreasing the depraved things such as grief and agony (Blackorby, Bossert & Donaldson, 2002). Utilitarians reject any moral code that comprises commands based on traditions, beliefs, and customs given by supernatural beings or leaders. They believe that what makes morality true is the optimistic contribution to people’s lives (Blackorby, Bossert & Donaldson, 2002). One advantage of utilitarianism ethical theory is that it a universal ideology that can be understood by everyone. Another advantage is that one doesn’t have to practice a certain religion to benefit from this process. It is a universal process that can use religious elements is that it makes one happy. Lastly, this theory also follows democratic values. While utilitarianism theory has its strengths, it also has some weaknesses. One of its weaknesses is that when making choices, society does not rely on happiness. Another weakness is that when considering happiness, the end never justifies the means. Lastly, when dealing with the future, outcomes are always unpredictable.
Deontology ethical theory argues that the definition of right or wrong is based on a set of rules to follow rather than the consequences that may arise from a certain decision (Chatterjee, Sarker & Fuller, 2009). It is based on the obligation of an individual to treat other people with respect. This theory has no room for negotiation since one always has a choice and is based on absolutes. The deontological ethical theory has various advantages. One advantage is that it forms a foundation of human conduct. It also creates high levels of individual responsibility and moral absolutes. Lastly, this theory stresses the value of each individual and provides certainty. While deontology ethics have advantages, it also has its disadvantages. One disadvantage is that this theory is useful as a supernatural excuse. It is also an issue of subjective opinion and does not use self-defense ideas.
Code of Ethics
The code of ethics required by a forensic psychologist is competence. It is required that forensic psychologists offer only within their boundaries as garnered from their training, study, education, and professional experience (Bush, Cornell & Denney, 2006). They can use approaches that they are not familiar with after sufficiently prepared, consulted, and supervised to guarantee professional competence. Forensic psychologists are required to have good human relations by practicing, researching, and teaching in ways that do not harm other people. Any form of discrimination, harassment, and exploitation is greatly discouraged. Privacy and confidentiality are encouraged (Bush, Cornell & Denney, 2006). Forensic psychologists should respect and safeguard the privacy of individuals to whom they provide their professional services.
Best-practices checklist
To ensure that ethics in forensic psychology are upheld, it is important to ensure that they are clearly understood. Forensic psychologists must understand that their work should not be misused, and under no circumstance should their profession be used in the deprivation of human rights. They should also understand the importance of competence in this profession. They must work based on their competence boundaries, including their education, experience, training, and professional experience. They should also make their professional and scientific judgments based on established up-to-date scientific research with relevant literature. Lastly, they must understand that they must take rational steps to evade the delegation of work to individuals who have some kind of relationship with those being charged since it would result in the lack of objectivity.
Positive Impacts of Code of Ethics
Upholding code of ethics is important because it portrays professionalism in a certain profession. For example, competence ensures that forensic psychologists do not give any misleading information or conduct any form of misbehavior, which may ruin their sense of professionalism. Most forensic psychologists are required to testify in court, and this means that they should not use any information beyond their knowledge because it may compromise a case. Having positive human relations will enable forensic psychologists to access information that they may use in their investigations. By having good human relations, they may avoid having personal relationships with victims or suspects, which may also affect a case in court. Maintaining privacy and confidentiality would bring upon trust from all internal stakeholders that work with forensic psychologists.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the code of ethics is a great tool for forensic psychologists to assess their work and others based on ethical practices. Forensic psychology is a profession that is important in the criminal justice system since it helps law enforcement officers understand criminals’ mindset and behavior. They also help them come up with a list of suspects on a certain crime being investigated. At the same time, forensic psychologists should understand that for their work to be successful, they must maintain a high level of ethics and moral conduct. They are part of the criminal justice system that ensures that justice is served in our country.