Historically the legal system has embraced medical expertise, so it’s not really surprising, therefore, that legal issues relating to madness and insanity continue to be examined within a medical framework; hence the adoption of terms such as ‘disease’ of the mind and mental ‘illness’. Historically, the field predates the Sociological jurisprudence movement of 1930-1950, and goes back at least to 1908 when Hugo Munsterberg (the founder of applied psychology) published the book On the Witness Stand.
Others cite historical benchmarks in Germany with the psychiatrist Albert von Schrenck-Notzing offering testimony in court about pretrial publicity as far back as 1896. German police employed psychologists to help them in investigations as early as 1920’s.
Hugo Münsterberg, a student of Wilhelm Wundt and a professor at arvard University, is generally credited with founding the field of forensic psychology. His landmark textbook, On the Witness Stand (1908), comprised nine chapters arguing for the involvement of psychologists in a number of aspects of the legal system.
In the United States, the first psychological experiment on the psychology of testimony was conducted by J. McKeen Cattell of Columbia University. In American criminology, one can trace the origins of a clinical or psychological criminology to the psychiatrist William Healy, who in 1909, created the Juvenile Psychopathic Institute to assist the newly created juvenile court in Illinois, and his classic work is called Pathological Lying, Accusation, and Swindling.
The history of the insanity defense goes back to England, to the case of Daniel M'Naghten in 1843, who shot and killed the secretary of the prime minister, and the M'Naghten test for insanity was used for assessment.
Development as an APA division
In 2001 the American psychological Association (APA) approved the creation of a new division called the forensic psychology division. And now days Psychologists are routinely consulted by courts on various
issues.
Now when as we add into the equation that the history of Forensic Psychology as a unique discipline is a relatively short one, it’s not difficult to understand why it has struggled to promote a clear identity for itself, and why it is often interpreted as the poor relation of medical and psychiatric opinion. Typically medical professionals were invited by courts to comment on insanity. Psychologists had been asked for help but infrequently. But with the passage of time legal system begun feeling the crucial need of psychologists to assess the different situations, mental states and behaviors of criminal.
For instance, a criminal is presented in front of court and defense lawyer states that the criminal is mentally retarded. Now a judge is not capable to understand the real nature of mental retardation. Although judge has the authority to make the decision, but only a trained psychologist can verdict that whether the criminal is mentally retarded or not.
Beyond any doubt, only well trained Psychologists are authorized to make judgments and operate in the field of forensic psychology. Even psychiatrists do not meet the requirements of this area. Psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.
In Pakistan, development of Forensic Psychology has a long route to exceed and many hurdles to overcome. Because the field is very new even in USA and many other European countries.
