Psychological profiling is a relatively new investigative technique that, in the past 30 years, has developed from what used to be described as an art to a rigorous science based on advanced empirical research. Results from the first wave of research have shown that there is validity to the idea that aspects of an offender’s
A psychological autopsy (or psychiatric autopsy—the terms are used interchangeably) is a reconstructive mental state evaluation (RMSE) focused on understanding a deceased individual’s mental state at and around the time of death, typically for the purpose of identifying the cause of death (accident vs. suicide or another explanation). Norman Faberow, Robert Litman, and Edwin Shneidman
The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) is an 80-item self-report inventory designed to measure eight thinking styles presumed to reinforce, support, and maintain a criminal lifestyle. The eight thinking styles assessed by the PICTS are Mollification, Cutoff, Entitlement, Power Orientation, Superoptimism, Sentimentality, Cognitive Indolence, and Discontinuity. The PICTS also contains two validity scales—Confusion
The California Psychological Inventory (CPI) was first published in 1956. It has a historical relationship to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and shares many items with the older, well-known MMPI. The CPI has been studied extensively and has been widely used in both research and applied contexts. As a general-purpose personality assessment tool, it
The term psychological contract has been around since the 1960s and was first used to capture the relationship between a work group of employees and a plant foreperson in terms of what the two parties exchanged in their relationship (acceptable wages and job security in return for higher productivity and lower grievances). This initial definition
Expert testimony in psychology comes in many types and concerns a vast array of subjects. Psychological expertise ranges widely both in scientific subject areas and the breadth of the legal landscape covered. Indeed, there are few, if any, legal contexts in which expert testimony on psychology does not sometimes have an impact. This is not
Expert psychological testimony, like any testimony, must meet certain criteria or standards for admissibility before it is allowed into court. Although the admissibility of expert evidence was initially governed by the general acceptance standard set in Frye v. United States (1923), more recent standards, including the Federal Rules of Evidence, have shifted focus to an
Psychologists occasionally testify about the factors that influence eyewitness identification accuracy in criminal cases in which eyewitness identification is a pivotal issue. Considerable research has addressed the need for this testimony and its impact on the jury. Typically, the expert witness is trained in cognitive or social psychology and has published scholarly work about eyewitness
Injury is a common occurrence in association with sport participation. Most sport injuries are minor, require minimal medical intervention, and have limited impact on the sport involvement of athletes. However, a substantial number of injuries are of sufficient severity to require more extensive medical treatment (e.g., immobilization, surgery), rehabilitation, and restriction of sport involvement. In
Psychological well-being (PWB) is defined as one’s level of psychological happiness/health, encompassing life satisfaction, and feelings of accomplishment. At the risk of being dualistic and separating physical well-being from PWB, it is helpful to note that physical well-being encompasses physical health, including disease states, fitness level, and ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL).