Family Forensics
OVERVIEW
At the crossroads of policing and psychology are controversies that affect adult
and juvenile offenders as well as society in general. The previous three sections of
Chapter 3 examined a number of crime and justice issues exploring these particular
domains. However, another related area of inquiry in the field is law enforcement
arid family forensics. As developed in this chapter, family forensics refers to how
the psychological sciences are or can be used to understand the manner in which
police officers address domestic dilemmas in their own lives or in the lives of citizen-
suspects.
The following section considers four topics that are squarely in the realm of law
enforcement and family forensic psychology. These matters include (1) officers as
mediators in domestic disputes, (2) police stress, (3) police work and family stress,
and (4) homosexual police officers. While certainly not exhaustive, the four issues
investigated in this section represent some of the more controversial concerns at the
forefront of the family forensic area of policing and psychology'.
Law enforcement personnel are called upon to resolve domestic disputes. To
this extent, the police function as mediators attempting to peacefully settle family
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