Forensic Psychology

It is fitting that this leading Canadian psychology journal would pick out to place the spotlight upon the burgeoning discipline of forensic psychology in a Special Issue. one time widely perceived as a field in which psychologists "end up" working, forensic psychology now is among the greatest in quantity highly respected areas of psychology in bourns of both science and practice. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Canada. a great deal of of the seminal work in major areas of forensic psychology including risk assessment, psychopathy, eyewitness testimony, victimology, credibility assessment, and criminal behaviour, has been done here. As James Ogloff (this issue) highlights, we ought to be extremely assuming of our track record in forensic research. We must strive to continue in this tradition of basic research transcendence Equally important, research in our field is having a great impact in Canadian society. For example, the National Judicial Institute based in Ottawa relies heavily upon forensic research in its training activities with Canadian justices Researchers in forensic psychology have been given the remarkable opportunity to educate the judiciary in several areas, including eyewitness identification and credibility assessment. justices have cited this type of work in their decisions in criminal cases. at the same time this considerable scientific and applied influence is not owed to a multitude of forensic psychology programs or Canadian PhD being generated with this specialization (see Ogloff this issue). There are still not many formal programs in forensic psychology despite a enormous demand for students entering graduate place of education and the often unmet ne for our expertise from within the legal combination of parts to form a whole itself. Clearly, there is a fine "new generation" of PhD coming on the outside of existing programs. However, there are far too hardly any of them. I think that Canadian universities must start to recognize and act on the need for more formalized programs in this area. Because of the unique challenges of doing research upon and working with forensic populations, the argument that pupils graduating from existing Clinical Psychology PhD programs (in the absence of specialized training) are prepared for research and practice in forensic psychology is unconvincing.

I was happy to receive of that kind a large number of high-quality manuscripts submitted for consideration in this Special Issue. The papers that were single outed are diverse in scope, reflecting the breadth of research popularly being conducted in the field. Papers in this issue might be considered "correctional'' "developmental'' "social psychological," or "cognitive," on the other hand all share the aim of answering important scientific questions having relevance in the legal a whole Hanson and his colleagues at hand data that are bound to stir up dispute about the effectiveness of sex transgressor treatment programs. Waschbusch and colleagues highlight the importance of focusing upon antisocial behaviour in young clan offering the possibility of early intervention in preventing crime. Observing that lying is a major question faced by the legal combination of parts to form a whole Vrij and colleagues present data concerning whether coaching can make deception more difficult to find in young people. Schuller and her colleagues investigate the potential influence of case characteristics and clever testimony in battered woman cases. Herve and colleagues direct the eye at the relationship between psychopathy and crimes involving unlawful confinement. The important question of whether the ethnic background of witnesses influences their ability to pick out the right suspect in a lineup is tackled by means of Smith and colleagues. Finally, Hardy and colleagues investigate by what means particular interview approaches influence the accuracy of rejoinders of younger and older child witnesses. Collectively, these studies present to view us the impressive array of the marks of work happening in forensic psychology today.

I was true pleased to have been given the opportunity to edit a Special Issue upon Forensic Psychology for the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science. Thank you to Editor Lorne Sulsky for his enthusiasm and encouragement in this undertaking. I also stretch out appreciation to all contributors and reviewers. Like you, I am excited to be working in a field with of the like kind diversity, scientific excellence, and important events for the legal system.

STEPHEN PORTER, visitor Editor, Dalhousie University

Copyright Canadian Psychological Association Apr 2004

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