Psychological Expert Report: What It Is And How It Is Done
The field of psychology is quite broad, its application ranges from clinical to countless other areas. Among them, forensic psychology stands out for having a series of characteristics and tools in which the interests of the people evaluated are not the most important thing. The psychological expert report is one of these tools
Like the other psychological reports, this It is a scientific, legal, non-transferable and personal document The main difference between the psychological expert report is that the process ends once the report has been delivered.
In this article we will see what a psychological expert report is and how to make it, its structure and characteristics.
Specifically within the forensic branch of psychology, the psychological expert report is the culmination of the work carried out by the forensic psychology professional
Thus, this document is made to inform judicial processes of the psychological characteristics of one or more people, paying special attention to what this implies about the facts that are being investigated and that could lead to penalties.
Said report contains the information that has been collected in the forensic evaluation, and is subsequently sent to the authority that requested it, be it a judge or a prosecutor who requires the report to use it in court.
Taking into account that the psychological expert report is the achievement of the psychologist’s work within this area, must be prepared with special care Let’s now look at the considerations to take into account when preparing it.
First of all, it should be taken into account that this type of report It is aimed at people who do not belong to the psychology profession, and therefore should not contain too many unexplained psychological terms; The clearer and more universal the language used in the writing is, the better.
The forensic psychologist who prepared the report must be prepared to appear before the hearing and respond as clearly as possible to all the questions asked by the authorities present. That is why In the psychological expert report there must be verifiable and defensible evidence and none of the relevant details in the case should be overlooked, as a question could arise from some of them during the hearing.
Irrelevant aspects of the case should be avoided at all costs, as well as inaccuracies in statements. The content of the document must be totally coherent and arguable otherwise the report could be declared invalid for the case.
The forensic psychologist should not under any circumstances give any sentence towards the subject in question, since the psychological expert report It must be free of all kinds of biases and personal opinions The imputability of the subject is the responsibility of the judge who will read the report. The psychological expert will only explain the mental alterations that could have given rise to the actions committed by the subject in question.
Its structure
The report must begin by stating that it is a forensic psychological report. After this, the emptying of the information in a structured way begins, as we will see below.
1. Identification data of the expert and evaluated
These are the data of the forensic psychologist in charge of preparing the report.
2. Reason for report
The purpose of the report is stated and what was requested in the judicial document is cited verbatim
3. Methodology
The techniques used during the subject evaluation process are mentioned and explained: direct observation, semi-structured interview, psychological tests…
4. Presentation of the information collected
It includes the family, personal, toxicological history, hygiene habits, sleep and diet of the subject, clinical history and psychological history At the end, it is clearly explained what the relevant background information for the case is and why.
Its fundamental characteristics
Apart from the writing aspects already mentioned, there are two essential characteristics for correct communication of the results in the psychological expert report.
1. It is a scientific document
Through this report, research work is carried out that, despite not being generalizable beyond the case examined, uses scientific procedures to generate valid and reliable information.
That is, it is a scientific document, and as such, it must meet the following criteria for its validity.
2. The document must comply with a series of legal characteristics
There are not only scientific validity requirements; It must also adhere to regulations that depend on the legislative framework of the country in which these tasks are carried out. It must be written taking into account the constitutional guarantees and the laws of the country of residence For example, in Spain it is according to the Criminal Procedure Law. It fulfills the function of an evidentiary element, that is, it serves as a guarantee for judicial decisions.
The psychological expert report is an archivable document that does not lose validity, that is, it serves as a basis for future evaluations, and works as an antecedent of a specific situation in a person’s life, to determine, for example, the date on which they had a psychotic episode. Of course, by itself it is not used as a tool to predict the behavior of the subjects evaluated, but only as part of the evidence to be taken into account.
