Forensic Psychology Terms and What They Mean

What is forensic psychology you ask? Well it's very simple really if you pay attention. Forensic psychology is the application of psychological knowledge and principles to different legal activities. Some issues you might know are, child abuse, child neglect, competency to go to trial, criminal responsibility and many other legal issues.

The first thing to understanding forensic psychology is terms that are used everyday. If you do not know anything about forensic psychology, you will by the end of this article.

Actus Reus - This is the actual criminal act. This refers to the actions behind the offense the must be proven by the prosecution so the defendant will be found guilty.

Antisocial Personality - This is a behavior disorder that is characterized by deviant acts such as, truancy, theft, vandalism, fighting with others, impulsiveness, aggressive, and reckless behavior.

Ballistics - This is when experts focus on the functioning of firearms. For example, matching bullets to specific guns or weapons. Ballistics also gives key information regarding the bullets path.

Behavior Modification - This is a common treatment that is used in clinical and forensic environments.

Cognitive Theory of Aggression - A theory that suggests that the aggression stems from complex interaction between cognition, emotion, and other drastic components.

Criminal Behavior Profiling - When criminal investigators use a specific technique using the crime scene and other evidence and put it together then analyze it to locate patterns in the criminals behavior and description.

Criminal Type - Individuals who repeatedly engage in criminal behavior or who are extremely anti social. Most criminal type tend to act this way consistently.

Dactyloscopy - This is when fingerprints from crime scenes are analyzed.

Depersonalization - This is when the criminal tries to change the identity of the victim so they do not resemble or represent the person who cause them the distress before the crime committed. For example :putting a towel over a rape victims face, or beating them beyond recognition.