CHAPTER 19
Forensic Psychology
JOHN C. BRIGHAM AND J. THOMAS GRISSO
391WHAT IS FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY? 391
EARLY ATTEMPTS TO APPLY PSYCHOLOGICAL
OR PSYCHIATRIC KNOWLEDGE TO THE
LEGAL SYSTEM 392
Conceptualizations of Insanity 392
Early Enthusiasts for Applying Psychology to the Law:
Freud and Münsterberg 394
Amicus Curiae Briefs 395
Early Research and Expert Testimony on
Eyewitness Memory 396
Psychologists as Expert Witnesses: Historical Trends 396
Pre-1955 Psychological Writings about Psychology
and Law 397
EMERGENCE OF FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY AS A
RECOGNIZED SUBFIELD 398
Signs of Maturation 398
Forensic Clinical Evaluations 400
New Roles for Psychologists: Expert Witness 401
New Roles for Psychologists: Trial Consultant 403
CURRENT ISSUES IN FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY 404
Recent Trends in Scientific Amicus Briefs 404
Advances in Forensic Psychology Research 406
FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY IN THE
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY 408
REFERENCES 408WHAT IS FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY?
There are two ways to ask the question “What is forensic psy-
chology?” One is to inquire about its current boundaries, and
the other is to ask when it began. Both questions can be an-
swered with a broad or a narrow perspective.
Concerning what forensic psychology is now, one per-
spective takes a broad view, equating the field roughly with
what is often termed psychology and law. Consistent with
this broad perspective, we can note that forensiccomes from
the Latin forum(a place of assembly, a court of law) and
is defined as “pertaining to or employed in legal proceedings
or argumentation” (American Heritage Dictionary,1982).
Taking this broad approach, forensic psychology began
whenever psychological concepts were first applied to the
legal system.
This broad definition is contained in the Specialty Guide-
lines for Forensic Psychologists,created by the Committee
on Ethical Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists of the
American Psychology-Law Society in 1991. The guidelines
define the field as covering “all forms of professional conduct
when acting, with definable foreknowledge, as a psychologi-
cal expert on explicitly psychological issues in direct assis-
tance to courts, parties to legal proceedings, correctional and
forensic mental health facilities, and administrative, judicial,
and legislative agencies acting in a judicial capacity” (Com-
mittee on Ethical Guidelines, 1991, p. 657 ). In a similar vein,
the American Board of Forensic Psychology on its Web site
in 1998 gave a broad definition: “The application of the
science and profession of law to questions and issues relating
to psychology and the legal system.” In The Handbook of
Forensic Psychology,Bartol and Bartol (1999, p. 3) stated,
“Forensic psychology is viewed broadly here. It is both
(a) the research endeavor that examines aspects of human
behavior directly related to the legal process...and (b) the
professional practice of psychology within, or in consultation
with, a legal system that encompasses both civil and criminal
law and the numerous areas where they intersect. Therefore,
forensic psychology refers broadly to the production and
application of psychological knowledge to the civil and crim-
inal justice systems.” Later, these authors suggested that
forensic psychology is “an umbrella term for psychology and
law, correctional psychology, police psychology, and the
psychology of juvenile and adult offending” (Bartol &
Bartol, 1999, p. 19).
A similarly broad perspective was provided by Hess, a
coeditor of The Handbook of Forensic Psychology (Hess &
Weiner, 1999), who asserted that a functional definition of
forensic psychology encompasses three ways in which psy-
chology and law interact: “(a) the practice of psychology in