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Psychologists are often called in personal injury and workplace discrimination cases to help determine the extent of psychological damages (e.g., psychological trauma). We apply a rigorous five-stage temporal model to guide forensic evaluators in providing a robust, evidence-based psychological perspective on the nature and extent of the injury, how that injury arose, and the effects of that injury in the future. Functionality of the plaintiff is assessed in daily activities, in the workplace, in intimate relationships, in social and recreational activities, and in relation to their family. Systematic analysis of the functioning of the plaintiff in these areas from the period before the legally relevant event until litigation concludes allows decisions to be made about the nature and source of any impairments. This method includes consideration of alternative hypotheses, integral to decisions about causation. Psychologists’ decisions thus affect outcomes for injured parties. Future research and practice implications are discussed.
Prosecutors’ decisions in common law jurisdictions remain understudied. Drawing on examples in Australian cases of child sexual abuse, this chapter provides insights into case attrition or advancement at the discretion of the prosecution. We discuss contextual factors that support this expanding area of prosecutorial practice, including legislation, available special measures for vulnerable complainants, and recommendations of the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. We review factors that influence decisions on charges, whether a case proceeds, plea negotiation, jury versus judge-alone trials, and joint trials. These factors include the age difference between complainants and offenders, the time lapse between alleged offending and reporting, the quality of prerecorded interviews, and the amount of evidence. Recent research and developments affecting decisions by prosecutors about evidence by the complainant and expert witnesses in CSA trials are summarized. We conclude with suggestions for future research to expand understanding of the role of prosecutors’ decisions in this discrete area of criminal justice process.
Pragmatic psychology' is a knowledge model and research method in forensic and all other areas of applied psychology. It focuses on contextualized knowledge about particular individuals, groups, organizations and communities in specific situations, sensitive to the complexities and ambiguities of the real world. Applying pragmatic psychology to the psycholegal domain leads to the 'Psycholegal Lexis Proposal', a call for developing a peer-reviewed, case archive system in forensic psychology that parallels the Lexis or similar computerized database systems so central to legal research and legal reasoning throughout much of the world. In line with the positivist model and tradition, quantitative, population-based measures are employed to provide a normative framework as one way of understanding the individual case; there is a major investment in ensuring methodological rigour in how a case is described and interpreted, including both quantitative and qualitative data; and systematic, behaviourally specific observation is emphasized.
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