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There are a  vast amount of different jobs for Psychologist in the Criminal Justice Field. The jobs explained in this editorial represent the foundations of Psychological evaluations and assessment by the different departments located in the Criminal Justice Field. 

There are many areas and fields that use Psychologist on an everyday basis in the United States and in the rest of the world. Some of the Jobs other than social psychological therapy on a private basis are located in the field of Criminal Justice. As explained and recanted many psychological evaluations and experimental jobs are located in the Criminal Justice Field.  Criminal Justice agencies need qualified Psychologists to help them evaluate criminals, workers, and prisoners in the law enforcement arena. Let us begin by exploring some of the jobs that exist in each area of Criminal Justice such as Law Enforcement, Courts, and Corrections. 

Law Enforcement

 Psychologists play an important role in the Law Enforcement area of Criminal Justice. They evaluate criminals to find out what their mental state of mind is at the time that they have committed a given crime. This evaluation may lead to the capture of a repeat offender establishing that the criminal has possibly had mental disorders in the past that have been evaluated and attended to on a regular basses. If a criminal leaves a ransom note, you can tell if they are in distress by the type of handwriting that the criminal displays on the note. Psychological disorders such as mental disorders could prohibit the capacity of learning for the criminal. They may not understand that their actions are reckless, dangerous and go against the civil grain of society, such as people that are members of gangs that participate in illegal activities according to Gross and Magaletta (2009).

Another Law Enforcement job that Psychologists perform is to evaluate Police Officers. Psychologist evaluates Police Officers to recommend them for the Police Force every day. A Police Officer should have many different qualities that are common among the Police Department some of which qualities include being incorruptible, well adjusted, people oriented, free of emotional reaction, and logical, Green, Edie / Heilbrun, Kirk / Fortune, William H. / Nietzel, Michael T. / (2010).

Psychologist performs interviews that evaluate the stature of Police Officers and the way they respond to their surroundings. Personal interviews, observations, and physical tests all provide good information for the Police Force to make a hiring decision, Green, Edie / Heilbrun, Kirk / Fortune, William H. / Nietzel, Michael T. / (2010). Structured interviews provide the Psychologist with a sense of reliability and the validity of their information whether resume or report from the Police Academy. All information that is obtained by the Psychologist is reviewed and later written into a record identifying why the Police Department should hire the applicant or why they should not hire the applicant. Green, Edie / Heilbrun, Kirk / Fortune, William H. / Nietzel, Michael T. / (2010).

Courts and Evaluation of Witnesses

The Psychologist evaluates witnesses that are brought to court for extraneous reasons. They are called upon to evaluate the sanity of a witness that is brought to trial whether by the prosecution or defence. Problems such as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) are common disorders that the Psychologist should test for during interviews and assessments. Whether or not the witness is suffering from depression or any other mental barrier that may affect their competency during trial is a decision that the Psychologists needs to make known. Psychologist are also used to identify cases of witnesses  that have health and mental problems that exclude them from being able to testify in trail such as  a witness clamming to identify another person but the witness has  bad eyesight and is unable to confidently identify the suspect. The witness could have a number of problems with their eyesight ranging from glaucoma, color blindness, and blindness that could affect the prosecutions ruling during the court trial. Is the witness a sociopathic liar, a person that cannot be trusted, is this disorder built in to their personality or social being?  These are some of the questions that a qualified Psychologist can provide answers for.

While evaluating child abuse, the Psychologists is to decipher whether there are grounds for a case against the suspect. When a Psychologist evaluates a victim of child abuse, they must enquire a series of questions that eliminate the accusation of false testimony. After evaluating the child’s situation, the recommendation for relocating the child is the next step to evaluating child abuse. Psychologists perform a number of tests on the child, parents, and witnesses that give them information such as emotional state, mental problems, and physical wellness. This information will eventually present the courts with a recommendation, Psychology Information Online.

Child custody is another area that using a Psychologist may be beneficial to the court, while performing an assessment.  Families that go through divorce may need a mediator to examine the best solution for the child during the divorce process. In most cases, the Psychologist will offer emotional support to the parents that are obligated to be fair and equal during the litigation of child support. A Psychologist evaluates the parents for any psychological problem that may hinder their parenting decisions: Franklin, Donald PhD, (2010).   

Corrections

Counselling is a major area of psychology, the different types of counselling such as suicide assessment, improving individual skills, and group skills all build a stronger foundation for the patient. Drugs, abuse, crisis intervention, and the rehabilitation of sex offenders all play an important role for the Corrections Officer and Psychologist that work together helping prisoners deal with social problems in the correctional systems.  Other areas of corrections involve the assessment of institutionalized inmates. This involves a number of correctional studies that implement the evaluation of the inmates work environment, how the inmates react to their punishments and how to treat inmates for social and psychological problems. Evaluation of environment adaptation displays how inmates react to other inmates and workers in the prison system. Assessments, studies, and tests absolutely improve the success rate of the overall correctional system. Thomas and Jones (Sept 1999)

Much like a doctor is needed to fix physical problems with the body a Psychologist is needed to fix problems with the brain. There is a need for testers, analyzers, and assessors for studies in the psychological field. Many areas in Criminal Justice have to have on staff Psychologists in order to operate efficiently.

References

Franklin, Donald PhD, (2010) http://www.psychologyinfo.com/forensic/criminal_court.html

Green, Edie / Heilbrun, Kirk / Fortune, William H. / Nietzel, Michael T. / (2010) © Cengage Learning, Wrightsman’s Psychology and the Legal System, 6e

Gross, Nicole R. / Magaletta, Philip R. Ph.D.(2009) The National Psychologist,Corrections system has career opportunities from source: http://nationalpsychologist.com/articles/art_v18n2_2.htm

O’Brien, Thomas\ Jones, Derek J. (Sept 1999) American Psychologist News Paper, A Balanced Approach for Corrections Policy Needed

Crime caused by Biological Deficiencies

              Crime caused by Biological deficiencies raise difficulty in our socialistic society. Biological problems make us aware of the dangers of stress and pressure and that affect our mental state of mind. Children that have been diagnosed to be violent prone need to be analyzed by physicians and treated for anger management. Violent prone children need to have a physiological evaluation; proper medication prescribed by a doctor and monitoring by health officials. Taking the measures listed will help decrease the crime rate by curing the medical condition of the possible crime offender.

               

              Police should be aware of any violent tenancies known by the subject before placing them under arrest. They need to understand the exact mental problem and how to deal with it from an arresting view without causing harm to the potential criminal or putting themselves in harm’s way. 

Tracking Criminal Activity

Analysis of crime is a part of criminology that gives the Police Officers dependable data. Being capable of reading and understanding charts and graphs for a specific area is a task that takes a full time staff to accomplish. Summaries of criminal activity displayed in any geographical area can project helpful information for the Police Department and Government Officials. 

Some of the tasks Crime Analysis over see deal with the identification of the criminal activity for a specific geographical area such as the New York City. If criminal activity is up in New York City the information leads an analysis to query data about, what types of crimes are committed? Once the crimes are documented then one can move to specifics such as a vast info cell of gender, race, age, and other vital information that is connected to the criminal activity in the area. 

Separating the criminal information source by zone allows the Police to patrol a specific area for criminal activity that is common to the location. If there is a high level of drug solicitors in an area of Watts and Manhattan has a large number of users then one could assume to have Police Patrols between Watts and Manhattan to intercept the transport of drug trafficking between the two geographical areas, thus cutting the suppliers off. Having sources of information available to support your crime fighting theories can help in many situations. Some include vehicle theft, serial rapist, child abduction, and robberies.

Other geographical information such as economics of the area and social service information may come in handy. Analysis tools are capable of many different reporting analyses of crimes in specific areas. The new crime analysis software evaluates areas by producing charts, graphs and maps of  locations within your Police Departments geographical placement. Having the capability to create spread sheets and reports of areas with high and low levels of crime help explain the difference between areas allowing analysis to evaluate the problem areas identifying why criminal activity exists in them. Having the capability to make comparisons that are accurate allows the Crime Analysis to identify why the areas have high crime rates and why other areas have low levels of crime rates. Also being able to view the area on a map that shows the general layout such as housing, gas stations, shopping centers and other public facilities while tracking the Police Officer routes by (GPS) Global Positioning Systems gives a good idea of what criminal activity is happening and where.

The functionality of the system you are currently using is vital to the work Analysis. Ease of use makes the system and Police Department more efficient. Being well trained on the systems, knowing how the system works, and the type of data you can collect from the analysis system allows for quality reporting.

 Methodological long-term problem solving for policing can help reduce crime and identify problems in the areas that the crime rate is high.

The Analysis has to be well trained for any situation that may occur. They need to be able to identify and update the Police Force for what is currently going on in their sector. Some of the resources and analysis tools are difficult to use when matching data with reports and spreadsheets. Assessing the benefits of the change in response time when an analysis is on the job making sure that Police are patrolling the correct areas make the efficiency rate of the Police Department go up. Flexibility and creativity are a plus when dealing with analysis systems allowing the department head to make changes to the type of statistical  data  that is collected for processing these changes are necessary to produce the correct data reports. Sophisticated software is usually hard to use training on complicated items may help produce quicker reaction to solving problems. Being able to match maps with crime situations helps the analysis find issues and problems. Having a structured data, output that is legible and easy to read will boost the efficiency of the analysis.

Crime Analysis Collection of Data

Crime Analysis involves many different types of systems, personnel, and training.  It is a delicate tedious part of the police Officers Job that offers many benefits in information and Policing styles.

  

Analysis of crime is a part of criminology that gives the Police Officers dependable data. Being capable of reading and understanding charts and graphs for a specific area is a task that takes a full time staff to accomplish. Summaries of criminal activity displayed in any geographical area can project helpful information for the Police Department and Government Officials Foster, Raymond E.(2005) Prentice Hall, Pearson Education, Inc, Police Technology.

BCS Bradshaw Consulting Services CAT (Crime Analysis Tools) – ArcMap From source: http://www.bcs-gis.com/images/AppImages/CAT3_large.jpg

Some of the tasks Crime Analysis over see deal with the identification of the criminal activity for a specific geographical area such as the New York City. If criminal activity is up in New York City the information leads an analysis to query data about, what types of crimes are committed? Once the crimes are documented then one can move to specifics such as a vast info cell of gender, race, age, and other vital information that is connected to the criminal activity in the area, Siegel Larry J (2007) Cengage Learning,  Criminology: The Core, 3 Ch 4. 

BCS Bradshaw Consulting Services CAT (Crime Analysis Tools) – ArcMap From source: http://www.bcs-gis.com/images/AppImages/CAT3_large.jpg

Separating the criminal information source by zone allows the Police to patrol a specific area for criminal activity that is common to the location. If there is a high level of drug solicitors in an area of Watts and Manhattan has a large number of users then one could assume to have Police Patrols between Watts and Manhattan to intercept the transport of drug trafficking between the two geographical areas, thus cutting the suppliers off. Having sources of information available to support your crime fighting theories can help in many situations. Some include vehicle theft, serial rapist, child abduction, and robberies, Officials Foster, Raymond E.(2005) Prentice Hall. Pearson Education, Inc, Police Technology.

Richmond Virginia Police Department, LEA (Law Enforcement Analysis) from source: http://i.cmpnet.com/intelligententerprise/images/0703/Richmond-PD-Dashboard.gif Dash Board

Methodological long-term problem solving for policing can help reduce crime and identify problems in the areas that the crime rate is high. White Matthew B. (2008) Problem- oriented Guides for Police  Problem- Solving  Tools  Series Guide No.9. Other geographical information such as economics of the area and social service information may come in handy. Analysis tools are capable of many different reporting analyses of crimes in specific areas. The new crime analysis software evaluates areas by producing charts, graphs and maps of locations within your Police Departments geographical placement. BCS  Bradshaw Consulting Services (20011) Crime Analysis Tools from Source www.bcs-gis.com. Having the capability to create spreadsheets and reports of areas with high and low levels of crime help explain the difference between areas allowing analysis to evaluate the problem areas identifying why criminal activity exists in them. Having the capability to make comparisons that are accurate allows the Crime Analysis to identify why the areas have high crime rates and why other areas have low levels of crime rates. Also being able to view the area on a map that shows the general layout such as housing, gas stations, shopping centers and other public facilities while tracking the Police Officer routes by (GPS) Global Positioning Systems gives a good idea of what criminal activity is happening and where.

The functionality of the system you are currently using is vital to the work Analysis. Ease of use makes the system and Police Department more efficient. Being well trained on the systems, knowing how the system works, and the type of data you can collect from the analysis system allows for quality reporting. The Analysis has to be well trained for any situation that may occur, White Matthew B. (2008) Problem- oriented Guides for Police Problem- Solving Tools Series Guide No.9 . They need to be able to identify and update the Police Force for what is currently going on in their sector. Some of the resources and analysis tools are difficult to use when matching data with reports and spreadsheets. Assessing the benefits of the change in response time when an analysis is on the job making sure that Police are patrolling the correct areas make the efficiency rate of the Police Department go up. Flexibility and creativity are a plus when dealing with analysis systems allowing the department head to make changes to the type of statistical  data  that is collected for processing these changes are necessary to produce the correct data reports. Sophisticated software is usually hard to use training on complicated items may help produce quicker reaction to solving problems. Being able to match maps with crime situations helps the analysis find issues and problems. Having a structured data, output that is legible and easy to read will boost the efficiency of the analysis; White Matthew B. (2008) Problem- oriented Guides for Police Problem- Solving Tools Series Guide No.9.

References

BCS Bradshaw Consulting Services (2011) Crime Analysis Tools from Source www.bcs-gis.com

Officials Foster, Raymond E (2005) Prentice Hall, Pearson Education, Inc, Police Technology.

Richmond Virginia Police Department   From source: http://i.cmpnet.com/intelligententerprise/images/0703/Richmond-PD-Dashboard.gif Dash Board

Siegel Larry J (2007) Cengage Learning, Criminology: The Core, 3 Ch 4. 

VCAP(Versadex Crime Analysis Package) from source www.versaterm.com

White Matthew B. (2008) Problem- oriented Guides for Police Problem- Solving Tools Series Guide No.9

Child Abuse

When dealing with child abuse there are many areas that need to be explored such as the Psychological, Legal, and Professional stand points of the Prosecution and Defense. Forensic Investigation has to be preformed and the Police, Pediatrics nurse and or doctors and Lawyers all have to work on the same page in order to bring child abusers to justice.  

Child abuse is an unfortunate case that needs to be handled diligently by trained professionals. Psychologists should be trained to examine evidence presented by Forensics Investigators and by Criminal Investigator to figure out what type of person they are dealing with. If the sexual predator is still at large, the Investigators and Police Force need to be able to find them in order to remove the threat of violence off the street, Whealin, Barnett (2009).

A full medical examination by a specialized nurse should be performed within three days of the victim’s rape. The examiner should perform the proper rape kit. In the case of child abuse, a Pediatric doctor or nurse that is qualified to handle child abuse cases should examine the child for physical and mental abuse. The child may have feelings about the abuser that display conflicts between themselves and their abuser. The child could be under post stress disorder that may lead to psychological scaring, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2006).

When dealing with children that are abused one must be patient when asking questions, being too forceful will confuse the child and deter them from answering questions in the future. Most rape victims consider themselves to be the culprit, in their mind they think that it happened to them because they did something wrong. As the Psychologist, you must make every effort to let the child know that you are their friend helping them through a hard time. Explaining that they are not in the wrong is an important start Garland (2006) .

Children that have been sexually abused show the following symptoms according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2006): poor self image, sexual acting out, inability to trust or love others, aggressiveness, disruptiveness, illegal behaviour, anger and rage, self destructive or self abusive behaviour, suicidal thoughts, passive, anxiety and fears, school problems or failure, feelings of sadness or other symptoms of depression, flashbacks, nightmares,  drug and alcohol usage, sleeping disorders, with drawn or clingy behaviour,  and fear of entering into new relationships or activities.

Research  that shows children that may be in abusive situations display a number of reactions that effect their psychological well being such as irregular playing habits and the tendency to be shy or shun away adults that come close them, Maddocks, Griffiths, Antao (1998). 

Legally a child is able to testify as long as the presenter is able to prepare the child for court. First, a child witness must pass the voir dire hearing; this hearing is to make sure that the child is old enough to know they have to tell the truth in court. The Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment and the Hearsay Rule will most likely not allow statements of absent child victims. This means that if the child is a victim they must testify against the defendants. The creditability of the child may be an issue if they have had mental problems in the past; the defense is then able to claim that what the child witness says is a fictional story. Having other evidence to support what the child witness claims will help the court make its decision, Garland (2006).

The Legal Points of Sexual abuse require the perpetrators to be older than the victim. Most sexual abusers know the children from family or prior engagement. The sexual abusers that do not know the child usually make contact with children at school or over the internet.  In criminal cases, the prosecutor’s job is to protect the society from sexual abusers. The prosecutor usually decides what charges are going to be admitted to court and whether they are filed or dismissed Garland (2006).

In child protection cases the child is to be protected from the perpetrator in most cases they are the victims own parents or primary care givers. The child is placed under custody of other family or in foster care for the duration of their youth according to The National Child Traumatic Stress Network. When dealing with child witnesses it is very important not to mislead the child into responding the way you want them to respond to the courts questions. Taping the initial testimony is important for the Police Officers and Psychologists involved in the telling of the abuse and what occurred. Make sure to leave the witness with the decision of positive and negative responses to the questions asked by the psychologist and Police Officers to make sure that your questions are not misleading. In many cases, the child that is being abused tries to protect the defendant because of close relationship. The psychological effect on the abused child may lead them to dislike the witness, especially if they think the witnesses are lying, The National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

Child Sexual abuse can be a number of actions that take place between a younger child and an adult or older child. These actions may include kissing, fondling of genitals, oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse. Some of the ways perpetrators can abuse children include forcing children to watch pornography, flashing, verbal pressure for sex, and sexual exploitation for purpose of prostitution or pornography according to Whealin, Barnett (2009). The trial and the recovery for abused children may take a lifetime to combat feelings of social disorder and being misled by others last through the abused child’s whole life, The National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

References:

 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2006) Child Abuse the Hidden Bruises from source:  http://aacap.org/page.ww?name=Child+Sexual+Abuse&section=Facts+for+Families

Garland Norman M. (2006) McGraw Hill Criminal Evidence Fifth Edition

Green, Edie / Heilbrun, Kirk / Fortune, William H. / Nietzel, Michael T. / (2010) © Cengage Learning, Wrightsman’s Psychology and the Legal System, 6e

Maddocks, Alison/ Griffiths, Lesley/ and Antao, Vera Department of Community Child Health, Swansea NHS Trust, School of Health Science, University of Wales,Ystrad Mynach Hospital, Wales, UK. (1998) Detecting child sexual abuse in general practice: a retrospective case-control study from Wales

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network from source: www.NCTSN.org

Whealin, Julia and Barnett, Erin PhD National Center for PSD (2009) Child Sexual Abuse from source http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/child-sexual-abuse.asp