Legal Psychology: The Meeting Point Between Psychology And Law
Psychology and Law share an important similarity ; Both are human and social sciences and share their object of study and the same area of intervention, human behavior. But this link goes even further.
In the following lines we will explore this topic by seeing What does Legal Psychology consist of? their areas of action and the way in which professionals who specialize in this area of work so closely related to the world of justice work.
The object of study of Psychology is the characteristics of human behavior, while Law focuses on laws that regulate said behavior. Therefore, we can differentiate three contributions of Psychology in the legal field:
For all of the above, the function of Psychology in Law focuses on studying how different judicial resolutions affect behavior, analyzing to what extent such resolutions manage to regulate society in order to progressively improve the judicial system.
Thus, the first relationships that Law establishes with Psychology occur through Social Psychology, Attribution Psychology and Cognitive Psychology.
Social psychology
From Social Psychology it is postulated that human beings behave based on the different interactions they maintain within their social environment. Therefore, legislators must take into account the relationships that the person establishes with others in this way you will be able to have the necessary basis in the elaboration of the rules that regulate human behavior.
For example, in predicting future behavior when granting prison permits or provisional release, since by incorporating the person into the same social environment in which they committed the criminal behavior, they are exposed to the same stimuli that could have driven them. to commit such behaviors.
The Psychology of Attribution provides the mechanisms of explanation in the field of judicial decisions specifically in the decision of guilt and criminal responsibility.
Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive Psychology is related to the field of witnessing, providing explanations of human behavior through the information obtained from jurors, judges, witnesses and defendants.
The differences between Psychology and Law
However, there are clear differences between both sciences; The most striking is that Law belongs to the category of “ought to be” (norms) and Psychology to “being” (behaviors).
As indicated by authors such as Garrido (1994), the main difference that exists between these two sciences is that although both are interested in the same topics, the meaning they give is significantly different. The Law regulates and intuits the factors that guide behavior and tells us what we should do or avoid. For its part, Psychology analyzes, measures, predicts and modifies behavior
For this reason, some authors indicate that Psychology shows three approaches to the legal field:
The concept of Legal Psychology
However, where the union between Psychology and Law is strengthened is in Legal Psychology, within which Forensic Psychology is integrated, since this type of psychology focuses its area of action on Law and on specifically applying techniques and knowledge. psychological aspects to the interpretation of the entire judicial process.
Thus, Legal Psychology is the area of research and psychological work whose object of study is the behaviors of legal actors in the fields of Law, Law and Justice. It includes the study, evaluation, explanation, prevention and treatment and/or advice of those psychological, behavioral and relational aspects involved in the legal behavior of people through the methods of Scientific Psychology.
Although they are often confused with each other, judicial psychology and legal psychology are not exactly the same ; As we will see, one contains the other.
There are various classifications of the areas of action of Legal Psychology, and their prevalence varies in different countries. In general terms we can talk about the following areas of action.
1. Psychology Applied to Courts
Also called Forensic Psychology, It includes psychology applied to minor, family, civil, labor and criminal law Different areas in which the psychologist prepares technical reports, advice on the measures that should be applied, monitoring of interventions, etc.
2. Penitentiary Psychology
The area that includes the performance of the psychologist within penitentiary institutions Its functions involve classifying inmates into modules, studying the granting of exit permits and pardons, studying the social climate, the general organization of the prison and carrying out individual and group treatments.
3. Judicial Psychology
Its two most representative areas are the Psychology of Testimony and the Psychology of the Jury. The first refers to the application of the results of research from Social and Experimental Psychology in determining the validity of the testimonies, that is, the accuracy and credibility of the testimonies of eyewitnesses, whether about accidents, daily events and/or crimes..
In the second, The psychologist is in charge of researching the decision-making processes the social influence of the juries as well as their evaluation.
4. Police and Armed Forces Psychology
This area refers to the role of the psychologist in the selection, training, organization and relationship with society of this group (Police, Civil Guard, Army, etc.). That is to say, in this case, the work focuses on providing services aimed at the part of the population employed in the field of the police and the Armed Forces, two institutions with their own characteristics.
It refers to the role of the psychologist in caring for victims of various types (mistreatment, sexual abuse, attention to the detainee, etc.). Its functions focus on the study, planning and prevention of risk groups and prevention outreach campaigns to the general population and on the care, treatment and monitoring of victims and their interaction with the legal system. It is one of the areas of intervention of Legal Psychology that are most related to the field of psychotherapy.
6. Mediation
Understands the scope of action of the psychologist in the resolution of legal conflicts through negotiation carrying out an intervention that helps mitigate and prevent emotional or social damage to those involved. Its functions focus on preparing an appropriate context for the parties’ communication, designing a mediation process and providing the parties with the tools that allow them to manage the conflict. In practice, this is a very relevant function especially in cases of divorce, especially if they are divorces with children.
The functions of Legal Psychologists
In each of these areas, the Legal Psychologist performs various functions:
Concluding
In conclusion, and in a synthetic way, it could be said that Psychology and Law are united since both share the same object of study: human behavior and Legal Psychology allows us to contribute the knowledge of Psychology about human behavior in an objective manner regardless of the point of view or field of action where it is being analyzed and to consider the judicial process, bringing it closer to society.
Although, unfortunately, in those cases in which the political outweighs the social, there is no effective relationship between Psychology and Law (Law) and situations occur in which the psychological aspects of human behavior have less relevance. when making a decision or reaching a final resolution.
