Role of Psychologists in the Criminal Justice System - Papers Presented at Training Project Number 38

• NCJ Number: 92075
• Editor(s): G Wardlaw
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 146 pages
• Corporate Author: Australian Institute of Criminology
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology; National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: Held January 26-28, 1982

Annotation

This series of papers focuses on the roles of psychologists in Australia's prison system and judicial system, as well as in hostage negotiations and researching the nature and causes of criminality.

Abstract

The opening essay in the section on the role of psychologists in the prison system notes that the psychologist's role in the prison setting is ill-defined, requiring the psychologist to select from a number of role alternatives. The role of the 'autonomous professional' is recommended, and it is advised that the implementation of this role requires that psychologists organize to convince targeted professionals of the psychologists' credentials and capabilities. Other essays in this section address the psychologist's role in maintaining existing functions and purposes of correctional institutions and, more importantly, reforming them; planning a new prison; and managing occupational stress in prison officers. One paper dealing with the role of forensic psychologists in the judicial system offers advice for training psychologists to act as expert witnesses in Australian courts. Other papers discuss the preparation and presentation of forensic psychology reports, the court counselor's role in dealing with family conflicts presented to the family court, how the experimental psychologist can increase the effectiveness of court processes, and the use of forensic psychology with Aborigines in Central Australia. In discussing the psychologist's role in hostage negotiations, it is advised that psychologists are best used as consultants on negotiation teams rather than as negotiators; the various consulting functions of the psychologist on the team are described. The final paper, which presents two ways of viewing criminality, protrays Eysenck's latest version of his theory of criminality and Cattell's application of personality 'mapping' techniques to delinquency. References accompany most of the papers. For individual documents, see NCJ 92076-83.