Definition of legal psychology

The psychology legal it's adis a discipline that performs a special task at the behest of the legal field since it focuses on the study of the behavior and conducts exhibited by legal actors. It understands in various aspects, such as the study, the explanation, the evaluation, the prevention, counseling and treatment of psychological and behavioral phenomena that affect the legal behavior of individuals.

It is based on methods of the Scientific Psychologyand it usually intervenes at different levels and areas of the judicial environment such as: psychology applied in courts, in penitentiaries, in delinquency, in mediation, among others.

The professional specialized in this area is called legal psychologist and his training includes, of course, knowledge in psychology and also those inherent to the judicial environment in which he has to carry out his professional activity.

His duties include the following functions: evaluation and diagnosis of the psychic conditions of the legal actor in question; provide advice to those judicial bodies that request it; design and

planning of special plans to prevent, treat, rehabilitate and reinsert those legal actors in the community to which they belong; train and advise professionals and employees in the field of justice and law, such as: lawyers, prison staff, police, prosecutors and judges, either in content or techniques necessary for their jobs; study the problems surrounding each case; assist the victim both with regard to her relationship with the legal system and with regard to her personal improvement; and promoting proposals that help to solve the legal conflicts in which it intervenes, therefore, it is that a conciliatory and peaceful attitude is required.

Although from what is stated in the previous paragraph the varied intervention that holds legal psychology and its professionals, it should be noted, that it is in the right criminal, in penitentiaries and in mediations is where the presence of this discipline and where it is key when: presenting reports on the accused to judges and courts, evaluating and studying the psyche of the detained in a prison unit and create favorable conditions for the parties in dispute to reach an agreement, respectively.

Topics in Legal Psychology