Forensic psychology in the Dominican Republic.
Introduction.
The identification of documents, and the study of the evidence left on the scene. Philosophy can occur to the principles of exchange, because, every time two objects come into contact, there is a transfer of material between them. Locard was the first person identified as a criminalist.Other important names are also highlighted within this area, we have Balthazard who was one of the first researchers who was interested in differentiating the animal’s human hair.
In addition, he developed photographic methods that had to do with the maximization of bullet photographs and cartridges for their best comparison.Bertillon, also intervened in several forms of photography documentation. He developed this field a lot within criminalistics when he photographed crimes scenes and formulated a technique that guaranteed the most reliability in photography than in the document.
In 1902 he began using the technique of comparison of fingerprints found in the scene with the alleged perpetrators of the crime. Eckert also mentions Dr. Reiss, this was another scientist who made great contributions to forensic sciences. Established one of the first criminalistic laboratories that provided service to the academic community and the Swiss police. His interest included the photograph of the scenes of crimes, bodies and blood stains.
Developing.
Forensic psychology in the Dominican Republic.
Forensic psychology is the branch of psychology that aims to intervene in judicial processes whose purpose is to provide data that helps resolve judicial affairs. It establishes Dominican Criminal Procedure Code in article 170 releases the punishable facts and their circumstances can be accredited by any means of evidence except express provision.
In forensic psychology it is established that, there is a register that must be taken, to people and that they capture, that process, in this case it is the assistant where he has, a responsibility, in administering the appeal of said documents and for thewhich legal psychology is very much, projection, in judicial problems to obtain an approach, in the matter.
Forensic psychology is the fusion of two different sciences that need each other: law and psychology. While both have the individual as an object of study, they assume a very different and delimited approach and methodologies: the law cannot give explanations about the motivation of the behavior of a person who committed a crime, and psychology cannot judge, sue ordefend an individual.
In that sense, forensic psychology, it is possible within the range of expert opinions and the motivational influence of other people, which can be explained or intentionallyIt is necessary to have special knowledge in some science, art or technique, and that it must be practiced by incompetent, objective and independent experts. These conditions must be a penalty penalty because in the process what is sought is the truth, and to find this truth the individual must depart from the prejudices, hate, resentment and feelings.
In the Dominican Republic, we can say that forensic psychology for judicial purposes, has its legal basis with Law 454-08, which creates the National Institute of Forensic Sciences, published in the Official Gazette no. 10491 of October 28, 2008. This law defines the institute as a functionally independent technical body, with the main mission of providing scientific and technical assistance to the investigation and courts, and forensic psychology is one of the services areas.
There is a sub -direction of Medina Forensus, created by law with specific powers, within them, render the corresponding reports in specialized and exclusive areas of the legal medical discipline, and provide the services of forensic pathology, legist medical services, forensic psychology, forensic dentologyand forensic sexology. To illustrate the importance of this according to the law created by INACIF, in its article 11, final paragraph, this institution is the only one empowered to issue the reports and expert opinions required by the Justice Administration System.
According to Ibáñez and Luis, 1992, the ultimate goal of the forensic psychological evaluation is to elaborate the expert opinion corresponding to the litigious object. In the Dominican Republic, this branch has been having important advances to the point that several universities have made their contributions, and the administration of justice is using it.
As an example, in the archives of the administration of justice in Barahona, an important case was known that we mentioned because it already has a firm and irrevocable sentence against the defendant Richard Rodriguez Novas, who had several times a young woman several times and thenHe went to Spain lasting about seven years outside the country and his victim was a minor when he committed the facts. At a time when he returned to Barahona, he was arrested and subject to justice.
To better understand the forms of application of psychology today, it is important to know the evolutionary history that aimed the current reality. Deepening its roots and the future of its development we will understand the reasons for their procedures and the feasible mechanisms to improve them. Since the early days the main tools in forensic cases have been the observation and interpretation of physical evidence.
In the last half of the nineteenth century, science was applied in the new and advanced fields of chemistry, microscopy and photography, this revolutionized the way in which these cases were investigated and improved the validity of the conclusions extracted from the investigation of the authoritiesresponsible. Some attempts were made to organize special areas within police departments to collect evidence.
The investigative authorities individually obtained scientific information from the academic departments of Chemistry and Pharmacology, since there they had experienced scientists and the necessary technical instruments, such as the microscope, for example. In some police detachments the laboratories adopted the identification functions, because the number of criminals grew concomitantly with the population.
The legal system could not continue depending on the memory of the police, who in their experience could identify the way of acting of certain criminals and gangs. Initially the identification offices used the Bertillon identification method, which was based on anthropological measures that supported photographic documentation. This technique was replaced by digital fingerprint identification techniques, which came together with a new series of responsibilities regarding physical evidence, such as: spots, hair, dirt, dust or other types ofmaterial that has been found in the crime scene.
The seeds of what is known as modern forensic science, were sown in the last Criminalistics symposium. Where American forensic scientists are organized at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) since 1950. Progress since then has been slow but consistent:
- Toxicology.
- Criminalistics.
- Questionable documents.
- Forensic Odontology.
- Anthropology.
- Jurisprudence.
- • Psychiatry.
Advances in chemistry, microscopy and in photography served as a stimulus for the development of the first phases of modern criminalistics. One of the pioneers in the field of forensic sciences and their applications in the laboratory was Dr. Edmond Locard de Lyon, French who supported police investigation with many basic techniques.
Its main interest included the identification of documents, calligraphy and the study of the evidence left on the scene. Its philosophy is that of the ‘principle of exchange’, which establishes that, every time two objects come into contact, there is material transfer between them. Locard was the first person identified as a criminalist.
Other important names are also highlighted within this area, we have Balthazard who was one of the first researchers who was interested in differentiating the animal’s human hair. In addition, he developed photographic methods that had to do with the maximization of bullet photographs and cartridges for their best comparison.
Bertillon, also intervened in several forms of photography documentation. He developed this field a lot within criminalistics when he photographed crimes scenes and formulated a technique that guaranteed the most reliability in photography than in the document.In 1902 he began using the technique of comparison of fingerprints found in the scene with the alleged perpetrators of the crime.
Eckert also mentions Dr. Reiss, this was another scientist who made great contributions to forensic sciences. Established one of the first criminalistic laboratories that provided service to the academic community and the Swiss police. His interest included the photograph of the scenes of crimes, bodies and blood stains.
Panorama of legal psychology in our country.
Psychology is probably the science that most investigates and, to a large extent, the modern advances of our universities, of social institutes, of the great media, as well as the new approaches to the laws of our governments, seem to depend on eacheven more of psychological science.
Dominican psychology: past, present and future ’, allows for the first time the scenario, in which forensic psychology finds its expression. It is possible to do this point to affirm that this is the First Congress of Psychology in our country that relates the problems of psychology in general with current legislation.
Perhaps the observation should be made by virtue of the new challenges of legal justice, product of the changes expressed in unfortunate episodes of violence that attack the basic aspects of the existence of the individual, whether in the manner of sexual violations that rather seem to competeWith the clock hands as well as other unbridled exhibitions of malicious facts within the families that acquire, more and more, the pathological status and that in turn ill to its members.
Since the last century, in other countries, psychological theory and psychological investigation have been successfully applied to the police, courts, prisons and other aspects of criminal justice. This type of psychology has been called legal and the collection of accumulated knowledge has allowed a real contribution in the entire functioning of justice, therefore making it more effective.
In our country, psychology still does not take off. It is not the most important nor what we are going to highlight here. But the truth is that she is called to play a first -order role, because as is already happening in other countries, it becomes increasingThere were psychological expert opinion, and cases famous today choose to start with the participation of an expert psychologist.
It is really like this: psychology is to penetrate the entire right, with the aim of efficient justice, more and more. That is why we point out the following key moments of the work of legal psychology.
- Contribute scientifically in the legal process;
- Apply psychological procedures in the selection of police officers and judicial officials;
- Develop treatment programs for the correction and rehabilitation of prison inmates.
Psychology is closely linked to justice and in the investigation of crimes and crimes;That is why he receives certain specializations and are appointed Legal Psychology and Criminal Psychology. First, legal psychology includes a form of social and organizational psychology that applies to the legal context psychological procedures.
In a broader concept, legal psychology involves all those whose psychological qualities will be required or examined by justice, regardless of the type of law that is. Second, there is criminal psychology that is actually an indistinct modality of science called Criminology. From the psychological point of view, the news of criminal psychology must include, in addition to the study of the personality of the offender or the offender, to the victims.
It is clear for the forensic expert who we know precisely who is the victim. We must emphasize that there are other specialized sciences of the;Psychology that magazine in importance and that unfortunately our country although they know it are not applied in an effective way.
But clinical criminology includes, in addition to the victims (victimology) other large areas of application of psychological work within prisons (penitentiary psychology), of detention centers or reformatory, house shelter, etc … However, these two news ofCriminological psychology (victims and prison treatment) continue to face serious difficulties in the national judiciary.
conclusion
Establish the scope of the specificity and relevance of psychological expertise;However, there are very numerous new applications that have recently been developed for the psychologist as an expert or expert. Some are classic in Anglo -Saxon and other European countries, remaining practically unpublished in our country.
One of the most relevant is that of the expertise of the testimony, whose transcendence is so great that it can be affirmed that it is one of the main pillars of the legal process, since it is very common to be based on testimonies (identification of people, memories,etc.) that factual conclusions are achieved on assumptions real facts, decisive in the legal decision.
The role of the psychologist as an expert is decisive to assess the perceptual limitations of ocular testimony, the relative efficacy of identification through facial features, voice or other means, the means to facilitate memory (for example forensic hypnosis) or to hinder it or to alterThe theptic dynamics.
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