The 4 Phases Of Forensic Psychological Expertise (and Their Characteristics)
Psychological professionals intervene in a wide variety of areas that go beyond psychotherapy. Forensic psychology is an example of this, since the work carried out in it, although indirectly related to mental health care, has its own entity within the work and judicial world.
In this article we will see what they are the stages of forensic psychological expertise a key process within forensic psychology.
The main stages of forensic psychological expertise
The fundamental tool that forensic psychologists have is the psychological expert report, an essential document in the forensic field. It is a document that includes relevant information for justice and also for some public and private entities; For example, whether or not a person presents psychological alterations or has presented them at some key moment in the past.
Thus, the psychological expert report is a legal, scientific, personal and non-transferable document that functions as an essential tool to resolve psychological issues in the judicial field, and also to provide necessary information in investigations based on questions about the rights and obligations of the parties involved
But to prepare and use a report of this type well, forensic psychological expertise must go through several stages. They are the following.
1. First interview
The first phase of the forensic psychological expertise consists of a general analysis of the situation through an initial interview, in which psychologists carry out an evaluation of the case in its entirety, as well as the current situation and the feasibility of starting (or not ) a forensic psychological expert opinion.
In addition to that, in this first phase it is carried out a first assessment of the documentation provided by the client and the confidentiality and data protection agreement is signed
2. Evaluation and analysis of the documentation provided
In the second phase of the report, one or more in-depth expert interviews are carried out, unlike the previous phase, where the facts and causes that motivated the request for the report were analyzed, as well as the history of the person evaluated.
In addition to that, in this phase, the forensic psychologist performs an exhaustive analysis of the documentation provided by the client (estimating its validity taking into account the objective) and the relevant psychometric tests are carried out, in order to standardize the information and draw scientifically valid conclusions.
In the second phase of the psychological expert report, the collaboration of other professionals can also be requested, which may include other forensic experts and specialized criminologists.
3. Preparation of the report
Next, we move on to the report preparation phase, in which the psychological experts compile and put into words all the data obtained in phase 2, with the aim of reaching the relevant conclusions
The report includes the following phases.
3.1. Conclusions of the forensic psychological expertise
The first part of the report consists of a summary of the conclusions, which includes the most relevant ones, so that the reader can identify the most important information at first glance
3.2. Introduction, background and objectives of the evaluative psychological report
Next, we proceed to present the objectives and scope of the psychological report, as well as a curricular summary of the Cabinet that prepared the document and the team that has been involved in said task, if applicable.
This phase of report writing It also serves to locate readers with essential information and present necessary background information for understanding the situation.
3.3. Sources of information, results obtained and signature
The last phase of preparing the report consists of a description of the documentation and other sources of information provided by the client, as well as the bibliography consulted.
In addition to that, in this last section A discussion of the results obtained and the forensic conclusions is offered and the signatures of the interested parties are included.
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4. Ratification
The last phase is ratification by forensic psychologists, and consists of going to court to answer the different questions that the different interested parties involved in the trial wish to formulate during the trial.
Like the previous phases, this final phase may not be necessary during the process of preparing the psychological expert report.
Are you looking for forensic psychology services?
If you are interested in having services in forensic psychological expertise, contact us. In Azor & Associates We have been working for many years both in this field and in psychotherapy, and we work both in person and online. You will find more information on our website.
