CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGIST

Criminal Psychologist

Criminal Psychologist

1-what is the importance of age trends in crime for the forenic and criminal psychologist? Discuss.

Age is of fundamental relevance in the criminal justice process. It affects whether the child or young person bears any criminal responsibility, it may influence the decision to prosecute and it may have a bearing on how and where a young person is tried and sentenced.

The criminal practitioner needs to pay great attention to a young person's date of birth and it should be clearly marked in a prominent place on all files. It may be important to bear in mind a forthcoming birthday in terms of how a case may be dealt with at court.

Section 16(1) Children and Young Persons Act 1963 amended Section 50 Children and Young Persons Act 1933 by substituting therein the word “ten” for the word “eight”.

Under 10 years - a person will be conclusively presumed not guilty of any offence. An example of this is the case of Walters-v-Lunt (1951) 2 ALL ER 645, where a bicycle had been taken by a child under the age of criminal responsibility. The parents of that child could not be guilty of handling stolen goods. In dealing with that bicycle the child could not commit an offence, and therefore the bicycle was not regarded as stolen.

Where difficulties arise with children under the age of 10 years, the police or local authority may apply for a Child Safety Order to the Family Proceedings Court. YOTs are also involved in youth inclusion projects and early intervention schemes designed to try to prevent offending.

Between 10 and 14 years - of decreasing relevance is the 'Doli Incapax' doctrine, which was rebuttable presumption that a child aged between 10 and 14 years could not form the necessary criminal intent. This was abolished for offences committed on or after 30 September 1998 by Section 34 and paragraph 1 of schedule 9 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. It may still be relevant in the future where adults are charged with very old offences committed prior to this date, and which arose when they were below 14 years of age.

Now children of this age group are regarded as capable of committing a crime in the same way as an adult. 14 years and over - all persons regarded as capable of committing a crime in the same way as an adult. There are some subjective issues relating to age and development that may arise in various criminal defences, e.g., self-defence, duress.

2-Theoretically,could anyone become criminal? Discuss.

Criminological psychology is the application of psychological principles to criminal activity, especially criminal behavior and its effect on crime prevention, risk assessment and the criminal justice system.

Whilst outside the scope of this brief overview of the subject, the scope of criminal activity within this country (UK) itself is open for debate. The recorded crime figures collated by the various police authorities across the country remain consistency lower than those assembled by the British Crime Surveys that have been in recent ...