Case Study: Pso Jane Roberts

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C. Abraham Fenster, Gary Faltico, lacob Goldstein,

Florence Kaslow, Bernard Locke, Harvey Musikoff,

Harvey Schlossberg, and Robert Wolk

Careers in Forensic Psychology

There is a strong need for the provision of professional psychological

services within the criminal and civil justice systems. Psychologists who

possess high levels of skill in diagnosis, consultation, social action research, organizational analysis, crisis intervention, treatment, and theory

construction are vitally needed in all components of the legal system

(Gottfredson, 1972; Twain, McGee, &Bennett, 1972).Forensic psychology

involves distinct skills, background knowledge, and forms of practice,

which in some ways are quite different from traditional functions of

clinical, personality, and social psychology.

Forensic psychology is the application of psychological principles to the

problems and administration of the legal-judicial system-both its criminal justice and civil justice components. Indeed, reformation and improvement of the civil justice system (e.g., the family court) will result in

fewer criminal offenses and a smaller work load for the overburdened

criminal justice system. In addition to needing well-rounded practitioners

and researchers, forensic psychology needs a cadre o faculty to teach

f

specialized skills in forensic psychology in academic and criminal justice

institutions throughout the country. For example, increasing numbers of

forensic psychologists are becoming police department psychologists and

consultants. Innovative programs in this area have been quite effective

(Bard, 1969, 1970; Barocas, 1971; Brodsky, 1 9 7 2 ~ ) .

The role of the psychologist in the criminal justice system is crucial. At

present, psychologists are typically involved in the following aspects of the

criminal justice system: (a)pretrial phase-psychodiagnostic test results

are used as evidence in pretrial competency hearings; (b)trial phase-the

C. Abraham Fenster is a...