Week 10: Application of Psychological Research – Court Settings

Much of the work done by forensic psychologists and forensic psychology professionals in court settings is based on valuable psychological research. You may remember the murder trial of O.J. Simpson, and if so, you may recall some of the ways in which forensic psychology research was used in that trial. If not, think of movies or television programs that have featured trials of juvenile delinquents, sex offenders, murderers, or other such criminals. Can you point to areas in those trials that applied psychological research in some way? Psychology has had an impact on the courts for years and many of today’s forensic psychology professionals find the court system to be familiar territory in which to apply their skills. Much of the work forensic psychology professionals do is based on valuable psychological research and their skills also have been improved by such research. This week you delve into forensic psychology research and see how it is used in court settings. You also review some of the research on juvenile competency to stand trial as an example of an area in which forensic psychology research is valuable to the courts.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this week, you should be able to:

• Analyze the use of forensic psychology research in court settings
• Apply forensic psychology research to court settings
• Analyze forensic psychology research related to assessing juvenile competency to stand trial