Forensic Psychology: An answer to Why? and how?

Forensic Psychology: An answer to Why? and how?

 

Imagine a case, where there are no accused persons, no witnesses and all the parties to a crime are victims and all of them are dead. How would you know what happened to them?

Before hopping on to the role of forensic psychology, it is imperative to understand its meaning. Forensic means ‘forum’ and Psychology means ‘the science of mind and behavior’. If we read this phrase as a whole, Forensic Psychology implies the application of scientific techniques and methods to understand the mindset and behavioral patterns of a person. In other words, it is a merger of law and clinical specialties.

When the goals of psychology are met using scientific techniques, it takes the shape Forensic Psychology. You might be wondering how this technique is used and what agencies undertake the task to use these techniques. Basically, all the investigating agencies have a distinct department dedicated to Forensic experts. Forensic psychology forms an integral part of the investigation in countries like the United Kingdom and Australia.

If we talk about India, it is more of an emerging field. Major credit goes to the technical advancement that is taking place in the country. Advancement in technology has been both, a virtue and a vice when it comes to the commission of an offence and its investigation. Virtue, as the innovation has given birth to high-end techniques to assist in the investigation of crime. Vice, because the offenders have found new ways to commit offences and conceal the shreds of evidence. In that event, the preservation and collection of evidence becomes even more difficult. However, the scope of the investigation has expanded beyond its convention limits to include criminal profiling, forensic odontology and tracking biopsychosocial components of criminal behaviour in suspects and accused. 

Legal footprints of Forensic Psychology

The primary seeds of Forensic Psychology were planted when in the year 1879, Wilhelm Wundt found the world’s first psychological laboratory in Leipzig in Germany. He is often recognised as the father of Psychology. Thereafter, James McKeen Cattell conducted some of the earliest research on the psychology of testimony. Moreover, in 1917 the first “polygraph” was developed by 3 Psychologist-lawyer William Marston. However, the same was rejected by Federal Court in the case of Frye v. the United States, 1923. The reason behind the rejection was the lack of general acceptance by the scientific community. Later in the year 1917, in the case of “State v. Driver” an American psychologist for the first time testified as an expert witness in a courtroom. This is how significant developments kept on taking place in this field

IN INDIA 

It was in the year 1917 when Prof. Prafulla Chandra Bose wrote a thesis on forensic psychology. He emphasized the use of this technique in understanding criminals and their behavior. In 1968, the first lie detection division was set up at the Central Forensic Science Laboratory of the Central Bureau of Investigation. Initially, there were no proper training centers to train the professionals in lie detection. However, with time, there have been significant developments in its utility and role in crime investigation.

Since 1972, many forensic science laboratories were set up in different states across India and polygraph machines were also installed. As of now, we have The Mental Health Care Act 2017, The Indian Lunacy Act 1912, and Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code where the role of psychology comes into the picture.

What is its evidentiary value?  

Albeit, Forensic psychologists and their opinions can aid in the investigation and many forensic psychologists also act as expert witnesses during criminal trials. However, it is not a piece of cogent evidence. It is used for corroborative purposes only. Let’s have a look at the various responsibilities that forensic psychologists have in the criminal justice system:

•  Forensic psychologists provide information and their opinions to officials in the legal system such as Investigating officers and judges. 
• They act as expert witnesses. 
• They administer psychological tests to accused as well as victims. 
• Their observations are helpful in suicide cases.

Case Study: Burari Death Case

Facts of the case: The Bhatia Family (alias Chundawats) owned a grocery shop and were a family of 11. On July 1, 2018, among 9 of them were found hanging in a circular formation from the iron grill on the ceiling of the roof. The tenth member was a lady, who was hanging right opposite to them. The eleventh member was their mother who was lying dead in the other room with a belt around her neck, on the floor, near her bed. The family members were blindfolded and their hands and feet were bound while they had hanged themselves. The family’s dog was the only member alive, was tied on the roof and was said to be barking continuously. After very thorough research by the Crime Branch, and Delhi Police, 11 dairies were recovered. The earliest entry was dated 2007 and the last entry was made the night before the incident. Notably, the family was headed by Bhopal Singh, who died in 2007. The first dairy entry was right after his death. After his death, the responsibility to manage the family fell upon his son Lalit. In the course of the investigation, various expert opinions were recorded like that of the Clinical Hypnotherapist, Handwriting Expert, Clinical Psychologist, Vascular Surgeon et cetera. Observations: After the ground investigation was concluded, the crime branch decided to go for a psychological autopsy. In this technique, a group of scientists and psychologists try to read the minds of the dead individuals, through their behavioral patterns, in order to find out what had happened in reality. They found out that it was Lalit who had psychosis. He used to hear voices as a result of his illness. And he was slowly transmitting it to his family members. It resulted in a case of shared psychosis. This was why the family members had started believing Lalit blindly. It was discovered that the family had not planned to commit suicide, instead, it was the circumstances that made them do so. The crime branch had concluded the three-year-old investigation stating that the Burari death case was neither a murder nor a suicide as there was no foul play involved, it was specifically an accidental death that had taken place. The polygraph and narco-analysis are also used in many cases such as the Nithari killings, stamp scan, and the double murder case of Noida. For forensic psychology to become one of the important parts of the criminal investigation, much more work needs to be done and a lot more acceptance is essential.