Legal Psychology in The Courtroom

Applied Psychology in the Professions

Psychology as a science is relatively new, with the first psychology laboratory being

established in 1879 (Annenberg Learner, 2022). The majority of the first major discoveries came about in the late 1900s, and even today psychology is still a developing science. Throughout this time, there have been a variety of breakthroughs in the understanding and study of the systems of psychology. The first system is considered Structuralism and was originally founded by four German psychologists who argue that psychology is but a simple process of consciousness and that all simple processes are called mental elements—essentially grouping each broad class together to be sensations or affections (Shivangi, n.d.). There has since then been Functionalism (an organism adapting to its environment), Behaviorism (doing something for the sake of a reward, or because it is correct or right), Gestalt Psychology (the whole is different from the sum of its parts, meaning that the nervous system is different from the rest of the body), and Psychoanalysis (the imagination) (Shivangi, n.d.).

Assessing the Situation

The beginning of legal psychology first began during a run-of-the-mill study in a college classroom. Students had been asked generalized questions about the weather and other simple questions to test their confidence in testifying (iResearch, 2022). This line of study began when attempting to analyze how reliable an individual’s court testimony could be. In the end, it was concluded that if an individual was always certain of the questions posed to them, if it was not an act that had directly affected that individual, that they were most always wrong—and the individuals were most often uncertain or hesitant in their answers were typically correct (iResearch, 2022). This immediately drew the attention of other psychologists who wanted to imitate this exact study in other colleges, and other psychologists found extremely similar results—however, this did not mean that the general public or even the psychological culture embraced legal psychology entirely (iResearch, 2022).

The first studies that would eventually lead to psychologists working in courts, counseling jurists and more was that of Stern who presented a reality experiment in a law class. The experiment required a staged quarrel between two students, and it eventually ended when one student pulled a revolver—the professor then intervened and asked students to give a verbal and oral report on aspects of the dispute. Stern, the professor, assumed that students would know the pitfalls of testifying, due to the questions that the defense or prosecutor could ask to get a truthful testimony to change just so slightly in their own benefit—however, the majority of written reports had between four and twelve errors, leading Stern to conclude that “affective reactions inhibit exact observation and reliable remembrance,” (Stern, 1939). This study then began the attention necessary for legal psychology to be entered into the criminal justice system (iResearch, 2022).

Legal psychology eventually branched out to include Forensic psychology, which made

the field of “psychology and law” (Stolle, 2021). Early principles of legal psychology primarily

focused on eyewitness testimony as well as the decision-making process of the jury—advancement in this field of study has now been expanded to include areas of “Law and Human Behavior, Psychology, Public Policy and Law, … Crime, Law, and Psychology and Law,” (Stolle, 2021). The most considerable confusion in legal psychology is the untruthful testimony of those witnesses who were absolutely certain of an event, and the truthfulness of those that remain cautious or hesitant about their own answers, (Stolle, 2021).

Professional and Society Guides

Within the realm of the criminal justice system, psychologists can have a major effect on analyzing whether a witness is credible or not when giving testimony. However, most reports submitted by psychologists have been found not to be reviewed or considered regarding the outcome of a trial, if the report does not follow the judge's own personal beliefs regarding the case (Stello, 2021). While it is without common dispute that legal psychology is now a common field of psychology, primarily called forensic psychology now, the use and implications of this psychology are limited due to the quality of underlying research conducted thus far (Hurd, 1998). Additionally, when a psychologist makes science-based decisions that would otherwise contradict that of what a court would like to rule, the rule of law feels threatened due to the biased, arbitrary, or otherwise unreliable decisions made by the courts (Chezum, 2016). With this conclusion, the societal implications could be strengthened in regard to psychology in the criminal justice system if psychologists sought to “address ethical and legal requirements of scientific evidence across varied disciplines,” (Chezum, 2016). This would then conclude that the criminal justice society may more appropriately accept psychologists' reports because they would not be viewed by biased or unethical parties that have a motive in finding a particular judgment in a case.

References

Annenberg Learner. 2022. History of Psychology: Timeline. Annenberg Learner.

https://www.learner.org/series/discovering-psychology/explorations/history-of-psychology-contemporary-foundations/

Chezum, H. 2016. Ethical Challenges for Psychology in the Justice System. American

Psychology-Law Society.

https://www.apadivisions.org/division-41/publications/newsletters/news/2016/02/legal

Hurd, S. D. 1998. The Legal Implications of Psychology: Human Behavior, Behavioral

Economics and the Law Symposium: The Legal Implications of Psychology Human

Behavior, Behavioral Economics, and the Law. Vanderbilt Law Review. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/

cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2122&context=vlr

iResearch. 2022. History of Legal Psychology. iResearch.Net. http://criminal-justice.iresearchnet.com/forensic-psychology/history-of-forensic-psychology/

Shivangi, Z. n.d. 5 Important Systems of Psychology. Psychology Discussion.

https://www.psychologydiscussion.net/psychology/school-of-psychology/5-important-systems-of-psychology/2375

Stern, L. W. (1939). The psychology of testimony. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology,

40, 3-20.

Stolle, M. 2021. A Brief History of Legal Psychology. Department of Psychology, University of

Leicester, Leicester, UK. https://www.walshmedicalmedia.com/open-access/a-brief-history-of-legal-psychology-80350.html