...Subspecialties of forensic psychologySubspecialties of forensic psychologySubspecialties of forensic psychology Forensic psychology is defined as the application of psychological knowledge to the legal system (Bartol & Bartol, 2012: 6). The concept of forensic psychology can be misunderstood, because the definition does not explain much. The easiest way to explain forensic psychology is to break it down into its subspecialties and describe where psychological knowledge can be applied. There are five subspecialties of forensic psychology, namely police psychology, psychology of crime and delinquency, victimology and victim services, legal psychology and correctional psychology. I will discuss legal psychology and correctional psychology. · Legal psychology Legal psychology is the study of human behavior relevant to the law. This subspecialty of forensic psychology consists of those theories that describe, explain and predict human behavior by reference to the law. Bartol & Bartol (2012) described that early in a case when attorneys are preparing for a trial and gathering information psychologist can be called in to testify. Main roles of a forensic psychologist in the USA includes, acting as a consultant to law enforcement, acting as trial consultants (jury selection, case preparation and pre-trial publicity), presenting psychology to appeal courts, doing forensic assessment and acting as an expert witness (insanity defense, competence to stand trial, sentencing, eyewitness...
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...Criminal Profiling: The Public Face of Forensic Psychology Jason Evans Brandman University Table of contents Abstract 3 Introduction 4 Literature review 4 Discussion 7 Personal interest in the topic 10 References 11 Abstract The utilisation of psychological concepts has been extended in many fields in seeking to enhance understanding of human behaviours. Forensic psychology is one of the various psychological filed which have developed out of the necessity to apply psychology in different fields. This article discusses the element of forensic psychology in relation to the various issues arising within the field. A discussion of the various issues highlights ethical aspects as the main causes of many challenges faced in the field. The complexity of the setting under which the psychological practice is conducted makes the topic become one of the interesting psychological segments that can be studied. Introduction Forensic psychology can be defined as the utilisation of psychological concepts, skills, and insights in seeking to enhance the understanding of various elements of legal and criminal justice systems. Within the context of the subject various psychological and legal aspects become combined in seeking to understand the functioning and operations of criminal systems (Davies & Beech, 2012). This approach to criminal justice involves various activities involved in the delivery of justice, ranging from the enforcement to treatment of suspects...
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...Subspecialities of Forensic Psychology: Legal Psychology and Correctional Psychology Antonella Zavala MISSOURI VALLEY COLLEGE CJ240 ABSTRACT Forensic psychology is the science that studies the individuals offender’s behavior. Forensic Science has other sciences that coordinates its goal such as Legal Psychology which will decide whether an offender is on conditions to go or not to court and correctional psychology that will follow the behavior and rehab on an offender Introduction In the show Criminal Minds on A&E, they show a dramatize version of what very few talented people do daily. Although, it is not what really happens it gives people a light overview on something that is more realistic and detailed. Solving a case, analyzing an offender takes time and a lot of research on the individual. However, their job does not finish when they catch the bad guy because that is just the beginning of a long work on rehabilitation to prevent by analyzing the motive of every offender and been able to prevent more crimes of occurring. Legal and Correctional Psychology follows the behavior of the offender during their time inside and outside the correctional with the only purpose to understand what lead them to offense in order to prevent more murders, suicide , child abuse and so on. In America, Forensic Psychology plays an important role in the Criminal Justice System, with special focus in Legal and Correctional Psychology. In the last 30 years Forensic Psychology has...
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...Forensic Accounting In Practice Contemporary Business 508 This paper discusses the role of forensic accounting practices. It takes a look at the skills sets of forensic accountants and the role they play out in the court room. It goes also analyzes the legal responsibilities of a forensic accountant form a professional perspective as their role for expert opinion in the court room. A forensic accountant is someone uses their accounting credibility for investigative or other legal applications, such as corporate acquisition, divorce proceedings, insurance settlements, or other legal purposes (Brody, Melendy, & Perri, 2012). Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. The first identifiable important skill for a forensic accountant to posses is investigative intuitiveness. The forensic accountant should possess creative and analytical thinking (DiGabrielle, 2008). According to DiGabrielle, the ability to solve a financial puzzle with an incomplete set of pieces is an extremely important characteristic for forensic accountants (p. 336). The forensic accountant is providing a service to a client for the purpose of expert information as it pertains to legal matters or for the purpose of finding or preventing financial misrepresentation. Their role is not to merely...
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...Purpose of forensic psychology Forensic psychology is a combination of psychology and law (Huss, 2014). Forensic psychology is a subfield of psychology that specializes in working with the legal system. In the 1900s’ William Stern a German psychologist started the application of psychology to the legal system by investigating eyewitness identification (Huss, 2014). Since then the field of forensic psychology has grown not only in the united states but in many parts of the world (Huss, 2014). Forensic psychologist assist the legal system in the process of making decisions in a civil or criminal case, by utilizing their expertise a forensic psychologist help the court system understand the behavior of a defendant as well as to make a decisions...
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... Forensic accounting is often involved with accounting, analyzing financial evidence, auditing, and investigating legal and financial proceedings. This paper will examine the most important five skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill, describe the role of a forensic accountant within a courtroom, analyze the legal responsibility of a forensic accountant has while providing service to a business, and research two cases where forensic accountants have provided vital evidence in a case. Caleb Newquist touches on the subject of new forensic accountants, “Prospective forensic accountants can count on making many enemies in the course of their work and must be unhinged by the retaliation that normally follows uncovering fraud and other misconduct” (p.1). Their job description comprises of a wide range of duties in which each case they work require different skills and different ideas to become successful. Question 1: Determine the most important five skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill The most important five skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess are analytical, creativity, organization or detailed oriented, persistence, and investigative skills. According to Luanne Kelchner editor for eHow, “Forensic accountants must have an analytical personality to perform well in the job. According to the American Institute of CPAs, a group of lawyers, CPAs and forensic accountants...
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...Introduction Forensic accounting has been around for many years. With the spotlight on accounting due to high profile scandals such as the Enron debacle, the market for forensic accountants has increased. The increase in white collar crimes due to the economic downturn also has forensic accounting in high demand. These accountants assist in investigating financial, auditing and business related issues and require specialized training. Forensic accountants are retained by lawyers, police forces, insurance companies, banks, and the business community. Government agencies employ forensic accountants as well. Accounting positions at the FBI date back to the 1970s and around 15 percent of today’s agents qualify as special agent accountants. These agents investigate terrorists, spies, and criminals of all kinds who are involved in financial wrongdoing (FBI.gov, 2012). Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. Forensic accounting is a specialty field within the broader area of accounting. These accountants are more than just number crunchers. The realm of forensic accounting requires a certain type of person who possesses specific skills and traits. Besides the core knowledge and skills of any Certified Public Accountant (CPA), they must know how to use a variety of computer...
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...Forensic Accounting Name: Institution: Forensic accounting, also referred to as investigative accounting involves in the utilization of accounting concepts as well as techniques in solving legal problems. It is the work of forensic accountants to investigate and document fraud (financial) as well as white collar crimes like embezzlement. They also assist attorneys in litigation support and law enforcement agents in investigating and solving financial inconsistencies (Silverstone, 2012). Corporations and Legal firms consult forensic accountants to aid in allegations of fraud. It is therefore important for forensic consultants to be very good at their work considering their clients. To be an excellent forensic attorney one needs to possess certain skills. Important Skills that a Forensic Accountant needs to possess: Firstly, a good forensic accountant must be competent in accounting. One must initially be a certified public accountant before considering working a career in forensic accounting. This is because one need to be familiar with basic as well as complex accounting in order to perform the necessary tasks that forensic accountants are contracted to do. CPAs are evaluated by the Certified Financial Forensics (CFFs) credential which is exclusively issued to CPAs who demonstrate expert ability in forensic accounting through their education, experience and skills (Singleton, 2010). ...
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...Using Teams in Production and Operations Management: Forensic Accountants: Fraud Busters. By: For: Class: Bus 508: Contemporary Business Date: 13 November 2012 Abstract: A case study for the Strayer University, Woodbridge, VA, Business 508 class, this paper provides for a brief review of 1) The skills that a forensic accountant requires; 2) The role of the forensic accountant in the courtroom; 3) The legal responsibilities of the forensic accountant; and lastly, 4) The role of the forensic accountant in a couple of major accounting fraud scandals. The world of Accounting has seen several major scandals since the early 1990s. These include major accounting failures such as Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia, Tyco, Phar-Mor, Cendant, Computer Associates, AOL, Freddie Mac, ImClone, Qwest Communications, Royal Ahold, Health South Corporation, AIG, Lehman Brothers, and most recently the Olympus Corporation. Some of these have resulted in the collapse and dissolution of the company – Enron, Adelphia; others have resulted in a major restructuring of the company – AOL, AIG, Freddie Mac. Whatever the result, they have all been caused by accounting fraud – either “cooking the books” to hide major losses or to hide the theft of funds. It has also resulted in the failure and absorption of the one of the Big Five Accounting firms – Arthur Anderson. Besides the whistle blower who brought most of these to public view and the lawyers who have been involved their dismantling...
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...Assignment 3: Using Teams in Production and Operations Management BUS 508 – Contemporary Business Forensic Accountants Forensic accounting is accounting that result from actual or anticipated legal disputes. Forensic accountants are the auditors of the forensic accounting practice. They investigate, coordinate data and offer their evidence in trial; and because it is forensic business, the evidence they find is suitable to present and will hold its proof in a court trail. Forensic accountants usually engage in different sectors of the business world; economics, finance, accounting, business management and marketing, to name a few. They utilize their understanding of these different sectors to gather and investigate data that will be used in litigation. Currently though, we live in a world in which financial fraud is becoming increasingly more prevalent. Forensic accountants are expanding their roles and venturing into financial fraud prevention. Forensic accountants are utilizing their skills and designing policies to reduce the risk of fraud, and working closely fraud deterrence research. To be a forensic accountant, the individual needs to possess certain skills and abilities to effectively perform the tasks at hand. A forensic accountant needs to have excellent communication skills, both in oral and the written language. Communication is the effective way to convey thoughts, messages and information. It requires the individual to actively convey the...
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...Computer Forensics Through the Years Prof. Pepin Galarga Computer Forensics Sep 11, 2010 Table of Content Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………Page 2 The Early Years……………………………………………………………….......................Page 3 Early Training Programs …………………………………………………………………....Page 4 Typical Aspects of Computer Forensic Investigations ……………………………………..Page 5 Legal Aspects of Computer Forensics …………………………………………..……...…..Page 6 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………….Page 7 References………………………………………………………………………………..…Page 8 Introduction If you manage or administer information systems and networks, you should understand computer forensics. Forensics is the process of using scientific knowledge for collecting, analyzing, and presenting evidence to the courts. (The word forensics means “to bring to the court.”) Forensics deals primarily with the recovery and analysis of latent evidence. Latent evidence can take many forms, from fingerprints left on a window to DNA evidence recovered from blood stains to the files on a hard drive. Because computer forensics is a new discipline, there is little standardization and consistency across the courts and industry. As a result, it is not yet recognized as a formal “scientific” discipline. Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Steve Jurvetson Computer forensics is the study of extracting, analyzing and documenting evidence from a computer system or network. It is often used by law enforcement officials to seek...
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...Forensic Accounting Practice Bradford Clark Professor Dr. Hanners Lithonia Campus BUS 508 – Contemporary Business March 1, 2012 Strayer University Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. A forensic accountant is a specialist in accounting and financial systems that is trained to detect white collar fraud. Forensic Accounting is a fast growing field in the in the field of accounting. Although it has been around for a long time, it has become increasingly popular in the past few years as there have been a number of corporate scandals, stricter reporting, and internal control regulations involving public awareness and importance in the business world. With the state of the world’s economy forensic accountants are in high demand. Forensic accountants should at least possess a Bachelor degree in accounting. They should also be a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and may possess other certifications such as Certified Forensic Accountant (CrFA) and Certified Forensic Accounting Professional (CFAP). The skills needed to become a forensic accountant include strategic critical thinking, problem solving/decision making, leadership, interpersonal and communication skills, and professional and ethical behavior. Strategic critical thinking is the ability to link data, knowledge...
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...Importance of forensic accounting and fraud awareness in Malaysia As a result of recent, highly publicized financial scandals; reported increases in occupational fraud; and heightened concerns over money laundering to support terrorism and racketeering, legislative mandates and public expectations have heightened the necessity to hrther define the auditor's and accountant's responsibility for detecting fraud within organizations. Successful fraud or forensic accounting analyses and findings reported by practicing professionals may be the difference between whether perpetrators avoid detection of their illegal activities or they are brought to justice. In most cases, success is directly and primarily dependent upon the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the professionals performing the work. Consequently, the demand for entry-level professionals with formal education in fraud and forensic accounting has grown. Academic institutions and stakeholder organizations that provide education in these fields are faced with a number of questions regarding the nature, extent, and format of a worthwhile curriculum. A review of existing higher education institution offerings indicates that the number of courses available varies from a single class to programs of 4-10 different courses. Programs are offered at the undergraduate and graduate level as majors, minors, tracks, or as nondegree "certificate" programs. Further, job opportunities and the student applicant pool are likely to vary...
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...For over 50 years forensic accountants have exist. In the most recent years the need for them has increase due to the creativity of white collar crime and the use of technology. Forensic accountants are specialists who work with financial information such as business records, bank statements, and tax returns for the purpose of finding valid data. This data is used to prepare their reports. The report is prepared in a manner that will be easily understood by the attorneys to use in research, negotiations or court proceedings. In the business world forensic accountants are used to help clarify and resolve a wide number of legal disputes, including shareholder disagreements, malpractice claims, insurance claims, business dissolutions, bankruptcy proceedings, and divorce proceedings, as well as fraud and embezzlement. ("Forensic accounting,") Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. Depending on the nature of the case, the skills necessary of the forensic accountant may vary. However, there are skills that all forensic accountants should have; • Oral communication skills- having the ability to effectively communicate and explain the findings of a case, especially in a courtroom environment is important. The FA should be able to disseminate information about company’s...
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...Forensic Accounting in Practice Brittany Baskin Dr. John Theodore Contemporary Business November 18, 2012 When you think of the term forensics, what comes to mind? For younger readers CSI probably rings a bell, while the elder crowd would probably think of Quincy. Both TV shows glorified the acts of forensics in a medical sense. But a lesser-known form of forensics has been growing in use around the world. In light of recent accounting scandals throughout the world, investors and regulators have searched for various different methods to improve the safety of investors through more diligent accounting reporting practices. Until recently, detecting fraud was thought to be a part of the responsibility of the accountant. Fraud was something the internal or external auditors were expected to guard against by their periodic audits. We now know that auditors can only check for compliance of a company’s books to the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAPs) and to company policy; therefore, a new category of accounting had to be established, one which revealed the fraud for companies with suspected fraudulent transactions. This new area of accounting is known as forensic accounting. To fully understand the definition of forensic accounting, we can use parts of the definition of forensic medicine and accounting, both taken from Webster’s Dictionary, to produce a clear definition. Forensic medicine is a “science that deals with the relation and application...
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