This paper will thoroughly discuss the case of two African American identical twins girls brutally murdering their mother and then being sentenced to 30 years in prison each. I will also go into detail about how each of the five subareas of forensic psychology could have potentially played a role in this case whether it helps the defendant or the victim. It is also important to understand the role of the forensic psychologist because many people are only able to associate them with popular television shows.
Case/Topic Description On the afternoon of January 13, 2010, at the age of 34, Jarmecca Yvonne "Nikki" Whitehead was found brutally murdered in the bathroom of her boyfriend’s home in Conyers, Georgia by her identical twin daughters …show more content…
The five subareas that represent forensic psychology are victimology and victim services, police psychology, psychology of crime and delinquency, legal psychology, and correctional psychology. All of the subareas listed comes together to help make the law enforcement system its best and effective (Bartol & Bartol, 2011, p. 20. Most people (including myself before I enrolled in a forensic psychology course) are only able to associate forensic psychology with popular television shows such as Law and Order, Criminal Minds, Without a Trace, and Cold Case, etc.
Forensic psychology is so much more than what is see on television. Not only are they responsible for finding out the “who” and “why” of cases, but they also provide different services such as assisting the police department in determining shift schedules, assisting in jury selection, working with school to identify children who could possess a harm to themselves or to others, as well as conduct sexually violent predator assessments. For the purposes of this paper, I will demonstrate how each of the subareas could have potentially played a role in this case whether it for the victim(s) and or …show more content…
Forensic psychology is something that will always be around and need improvement. The judicial system believes that people’s behavior is either right or wrong but because of forensic psychologist we now know that, that is not true. Every case, defendant, and victim is different and everything is not always clear and cut. I believe that prior relationships should also be taken into consideration when it comes to placing children with other family member. For instance, when Jarmecca went to live with her grandmother Della. How were the rules, what was she allowed and not allowed to do, did Jarmecca continue to stay in trouble. I understand that the courts try to find someone in the family to take the children but sometimes it is in the best interest of the children for them to be placed with people that are not relatives or friends of the family. Even though is case is not very old I do believe that more could have been done to prevent this tragedy. I also believe that there was something deeper happening than just Jarmecca not allowing them do as they pleased because she was stabbed so many times, that shows a lot of