What is the difference between police and forensic psychologists?
Forensic psychology is defined by the American Board of Forensic Psychology as “the application of the science and profession of psychology to questions and issues relating to law and the legal system. The word ‘forensic’ comes from the Latin word ‘forensis,’ meaning ‘of the forum,’ where the law courts of ancient Rome were held. Today forensic refers to the application of scientific principles and practices to the adversary process where specially knowledgeable scientists play a role.” Forensic psychologists may address a variety of topics such as child custody, competency to proceed in trial, evaluating the psychological impact of a personal injury that is being litigated, the validity of claims of child sexual abuse, profiles of criminal offenders, and practically any other topic in which a psychologist is being asked to answer a psycholegal or investigative question. Police psychology is a separate subspeciality of psychology that has been defined as, “The delivery of psychological
