Tripti Sharma Forensic psychology has an interesting history, evolving over centuries. It all started when legal and psychological fields began to overlap, though this wasn't really formalized until the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In the early days, people in the legal system, like judges and lawyers, mostly relied on their own knowledge or advice from doctors or psychiatrists. But it wasn't until 1896, when Hugo Münsterberg, a German psychologist, wrote his book "On the Witness Stand", that psychology began being seen as important in the legal field. He argued that psychological principles could help in understanding criminal behavior and assessing witness reliability. That was kind of the first big push for forensic psychology.
As the years went on, psychology continued to grow, and by the 1920s-1930s, forensic psychology started to get more attention. Psychologists started working more closely with the legal system to assess mental illness, provide expert testimony, and even help with criminal investigations.
By the 1950s and 1960s, forensic psychology had really started to take off, especially in the United States. The field expanded to include roles like clinical psychologists who could assess whether defendants were mentally competent to stand trial. Around this time, psychopathy and other psychological disorders also became key focuses of forensic evaluations.
Then, in the 1970s, forensic psychology became a more formal field. There were programs created in universities to train psychologists specifically for work in the legal system. This also saw the development of criminal profiling and more research into topics like eyewitness testimony and jury decision-making.
Today, forensic psychology is a well-established field, with psychologists working in law enforcement, corrections, courts, and even in private practice, helping with everything from criminal assessments to child custody evaluations.
So, to sum it up: It started with a few pioneering ideas, grew with increased collaboration between law and psychology, and has evolved into a critical part of the justice system today.
If we talk about law and psychology and we compare it to psychology and medicine, people should continue the studies that Dr. He Jiankui started, which is about genetic modification at such a tiny level, changing genetics. However, you are born a genius, you do not become a genius.
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