Ethics And Deontology In Forensic Psychology: The Code That Governs Experts

As in all branches of behavioral science, forensic psychology also has its own code of ethical standards

With this article we will be able to delve into some of the most important concepts that every forensic psychologist must respect while carrying out their activity so as not to come into confrontation with the deontology of this field.

The importance of ethics and deontology in forensic psychology

All disciplines dedicated to health must be governed by very clear rules regarding the ethics of professionals’ actions. This is the case, for example, in medicine and of course psychology. Specifically, we are going to talk about the importance of ethics and deontology in forensic psychology, one of the branches of this science that is dedicated to its most legal part.

Forensic psychologists, among other things, perform expert reports to advise a judge about the psychological foundations of different actions or situations

Such a delicate task, which involves not only the intervention of a health science such as psychology, but also judicial decisions that can restrict the freedom of an individual, or give custody of a minor to one party or another, must be carried out. with extreme caution, and always within an ethical framework that in no way can be exceeded, to have the maximum guarantees that the psychological action is being carried out with the greatest possible objectivity and without violating a single right of those affected.

To achieve this objective, there are deontological codes that apply to all psychological practice in general, but there are also others that are specific to the forensic aspect of this discipline, and that propose a series of guidelines to prepare expert reports in a way that ensures not violating any ethical criteria Below we will see some of them and take examples to illustrate the good practices that must be carried out to respect ethics and deontology in forensic psychology.

General ethics in psychology

Although There are some ethics manuals at the national level, such as the Deontological Code of the General Council of Official Colleges of Psychologists, and even European like the Metacode of Ethics of the European Federation of Associations of Psychologists, it is also true that each Official College of each autonomous community in Spain is responsible for creating the guides that must govern the actions of registered psychologists in said territory.

In this case we will take as reference those carried out by the Official College of Psychology of Madrid. In this case, the first document we find is Ethics and Deontology in psychological practice.

The interesting thing about this guide is that in its introduction it explains that it arises as a response to a series of studies in which the incidence of various issues that could represent a lack of ethics in the day-to-day activities of different psychologists in various areas was analyzed. different branches of the profession. Therefore, It became necessary to establish a single set of criteria to avoid those situations in which, perhaps due to lack of knowledge, one was not acting in the most correct way

Ethics and deontology in forensic psychology can also be seen in this manual, as it has a specific section in which the problems inherent to this field are addressed. One of the characteristics of the forensic discipline compared to the rest of the branches of psychology is that in this, in general, the psychologist works with people who do not want to be there of their own free will, but who the relationship is imposed by the judicial process in which they are immersed and that makes the position of the psychologist especially delicate.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the field of legal psychology (which includes forensic psychology) is the group that receives the most complaints for alleged malpractice in this Official College. This does not mean, by any means, that all of them entail the opening of a disciplinary process, since in the majority of cases it is shown that said complaint is not appropriate, and therefore it is dismissed. But it is an example of the extreme delicacy of this field and the implications that a bad performance can have.

The data shows that The field of forensic psychology receives more than 25% of the total complaints to psychology professionals in general Of that amount, more than half are archived without requiring an investigation, as there is no evidence of malpractice. Of the rest, only some, 7% of the total complaints filed, generate a disciplinary file. A really low figure for the total number of interventions carried out in this field.

Good practice guides in forensic psychology

Continuing with other examples of documents that the Official College of Psychology of Madrid has edited to establish unified guidelines for action regarding ethics and deontology in forensic psychology, we are going to stop at some of the most important ones to discover their usefulness.

Custody and visitation regime for minors

If the practice of expert psychology is already extremely delicate, When it involves decisions that affect minors, we are talking about even more sensitive cases Hence, the Madrid COP decided to publish the Guide to good practices for the preparation of expert psychological reports on custody and visitation of minors.

After the approval of the divorce law, the problem of custody has been a constant, and the figure of the psychologist expert is essential to advise the judge on the most favorable option for the minor, once all the possibilities have been evaluated.

And the best interest of the minor is the fundamental pillar of ethics and deontology in forensic psychology within this field. One of the maxims that will govern these actions is that the psychologist evaluates the entire family group, since it is not possible to reach reasonable conclusions if only the custody conditions for one of the parents or guardians have been studied. The evaluation, in addition, must always be carried out through objective criteria, obviously.

Equally important is that all family members know the purpose of the evaluation process to which they are being subjected, and must give express consent for it. The psychologist, in addition, must inform both parents or guardians of the techniques that are going to be applied to the minors, and if any of them are against, he must immediately interrupt the procedure, unless there is a court order to continue. .

If the previous point already involved extremely delicate work, it is even more so when it comes to ethics and deontology in forensic psychology in cases of child custody and visitation regime for victims of gender violence. The sensitivity of these cases will be, if possible, even greater, so The psychologist expert will have to take extreme precautions and protect the best interests of the minor at all costs which is the general law that governs all actions that involve working with minors.

Risk of violence against women

The other area in which the most delicate cases occur within forensic psychology, and which we already mentioned in the previous point, is that of cases of violence against women. To have the greatest knowledge about how to act, The Madrid COP prepared the Guide to good practices for the forensic psychological evaluation of violence against women in relationships (VCMP).

The figure of the forensic psychologist in this field is of vital importance, since he will become the judge’s advisor and will be one of the professionals who evaluates whether a situation of violence against women is occurring, and in that case , what type it is, what its repercussions may be and the possible risks. It is, of course, an extremely complicated task and must be done under very strict protocols that guarantee maximum ethics throughout the entire process.

The psychologist must make it clear to the people involved in the forensic evaluation what their role is: advise the judge in a very specific field, that of psychology, within the situation that is being judged, so that he has all the information on the table before making a decision And the thing is that, always, it is the judge who is in charge of passing sentence and deciding. Psychological experts are only advisors who provide very valuable information so that said decision is as objective as possible.