Psychologists Roles in Legal System

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Unit 3 Assignment Professor Robinson Megan Faust CJ233: Forensic Psychology Psychologists are very important elements of the legal system because of the many roles they play. Psychologists most commonly perform roles such as advising attorneys on cases, providing research, consulting on trials and jury selection, testifying as expert witnesses, and evaluating trials. However psychologists do not just play an important role in the courtroom setting. Psychologists are also often used by law enforcement, corrections, and even in university settings. Most commonly, in criminal cases these psychologists play big roles in course a trial takes and its outcome. Law enforcement uses psychologists for many things. Sometimes they are used to evaluate officers who have been through a traumatic experience on the job such as killing someone or being shot/ injured on the job. They are also called in on occasion to watch integrations and give deceives insight on the suspect’s mannerisms and mental status. When law enforcement is dealing with issues regarding children, child psychologists are often called in to observe the child and speak with them regarding the situation. Some issues that come with using psychologist in law enforcement is when a psychologist is asked to speak with a suspect. If the psychologist does not carefully explain the rules the suspect could think they are speaking with a “doctor” and then all statements made would be patient doctor confidentiality. Another area of the legal system that uses psychologists is the corrections department. Psychologists perform any number of tasks related to corrections for analyzing, evaluating and treating inmates to helping resolve any issues that might arise between inmates. In the corrections department psychologists are often used in the rehabilitation of

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