Forensic Psychology Research Topics

Criminal Competencies Research Topics

Adjudicative Competence of Youth
Capacity to Waive Rights
Capacity to Waive Miranda Rights
Checklist for Competency for Execution Evaluations
Competence Assessment for Standing Trial for Defendants With Mental Retardation
(CAST*MR)
Competency, Foundational and Decisional
Competency Restoration
Competency Assessment Instrument (CAI)
Competency for Execution
Competency Screening Test (CST)
Competency to Be Sentenced
Competency to Confess
Competency to Stand Trial
Competency to Waive Appeals
Competency to Waive Counsel (Proceed Pro Se)
Delusions
Evaluation of Competence to Stand Trial–Revised (ECST–R)
Fitness Interview Test–Revised (FIT–R)
Georgia Court Competence Test (GCCT)
Grisso’s Instruments for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights
Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales
Hallucinations
Interdisciplinary Fitness Interview (IFI)
MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT–CA)
Psychotic Disorders

Criminal Responsibility Research Topics

Evaluation of Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances in Capital Cases
American Bar Association Resolution on Mental Disability and the Death Penalty
Automatism
Battered Woman Syndrome
Battered Woman Syndrome Testimony
Criminal Responsibility Assessment
Criminal Responsibility Defenses and Standards
Delusions
Diminished Capacity
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Extreme Emotional Disturbance
Guilty but Mentally Ill Verdict
Hallucinations
Insanity Defense Reform Act (IDRA)
Mens Rea and Actus Reus
Mental Illness and the Death Penalty
Mental Retardation and the Death Penalty
M’Naghten Standard
Psychotic Disorders
Rogers Criminal Responsibility Assessment Scales (R–CRAS)

Death Penalty Research Topics

Evaluation of Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances in Capital Cases
Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances Effects of on Jurors in Capital Trials
American Bar Association Resolution on Mental Disability and the Death Penalty
Capital Mitigation
Checklist for Competency for Execution Evaluations
Competency for Execution
Death Penalty
Death Qualification of Juries
Jury Understanding of Judges’ Instructions in Capital Cases
Juvenile Death Penalty
Mental Illness and the Death Penalty
Mental Retardation and the Death Penalty
Moral Disengagement and Execution
Religion and the Death Penalty
Victim Impact Statements

Divorce and Child Custody Research Topics

Ackerman-Schoendorf Parent Evaluation of Custody Test (ASPECT)
Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)
Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory
Child Custody Evaluations
Child Maltreatment
Child Sexual Abuse
Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS)
Divorce and Child Custody
Parent-Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI)
Parenting Satisfaction Scale (PSS)
Parenting Stress Index (PSI)
Tender Years Doctrine
Termination of Parental Rights
Uniform Child Custody Evaluation System (UCCES)
Education and Professional Development Research Topics
Diplomates in Forensic Psychology
Doctoral Programs in Forensic Psychology
Ethical Guidelines and Principles
Master’s Programs in Forensic Psychology
Postdoctoral Residencies in Forensic Psychology
Trial Consultant Training

Eyewitness Memory Research Topics

Alcohol Intoxication Impact on Eyewitness Memory
Appearance-Change Instruction in Lineups
Clothing Bias in Identification Procedures
Cognitive Interview
Computer-Assisted Lineups
Confidence in Identifications
Confidence in Identifications Malleability
Conformity in Eyewitness Reports
Cross-Race Effect in Eyewitness Identification
Double-Blind Lineups
Elderly Eyewitnesses
Estimator and System Variables in Eyewitness Identification
Expert Psychological Testimony on Eyewitness Identification
Accuracy of Eyewitness Descriptions
Eyewitness Identification: Effect of Disguises and Appearance Changes
Eyewitness Identification: Field Studies
Eyewitness Identification: General Acceptance in the Scientific Community
Eyewitness Memory
Lay Beliefs About Eyewitness Memory
Facial Composites
False Memories
Forced Confabulation
Hypnosis and Eyewitness Memory
Best Practices in Identification Tests
Instructions to the Witness
Juries and Eyewitnesses
Lineup Fillers
Lineup Size and Bias
Motions to Suppress Eyewitness Identification
Mug Shots
Neil v. Biggers Criteria for Evaluating Eyewitness Identification
Optimality Hypothesis in Eyewitness Identification
Police Eyewitnesses
Popout Effect in Eyewitness Identification
Postevent Information and Eyewitness Memory
Presence of Counsel Safeguard and Eyewitness Identification
Reconstructive Memory
Repeated Recall
Repressed and Recovered Memories
Response Latency in Eyewitness Identification
Retention Interval and Eyewitness Memory
Showups
Simultaneous and Sequential Lineup Presentations
Source Monitoring and Eyewitness Memory
Stress and Eyewitness Memory
Training of Eyewitnesses
Unconscious Transference
Verbal Overshadowing
Voice Recognition
Weapon Focus Effect

Forensic Assessment Research Topics

Ackerman-Schoendorf Parent Evaluation of Custody Test (ASPECT)
Adjudicative Competence of Youth
Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)
Evaluation of Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances in Capital Cases
American Bar Association Resolution on Mental Disability and the Death Penalty
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Antisocial Personality Disorder
Automatism
Battered Woman Syndrome
Capacity to Consent to Treatment Instrument (CCTI)
Capacity to Waive Miranda Rights
Capacity to Waive Rights
Checklist for Competency for Execution Evaluations
Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory
Child Custody Evaluations
Child Maltreatment
Child Sexual Abuse
Civil Commitment
Classification of Violence Risk (COVR)
Competence Assessment for Standing Trial for Defendants With Mental Retardation
(CAST*MR)
Competency Foundational and Decisional
Competency Restoration
Competency Assessment Instrument (CAI)
Competency for Execution
Competency Screening Test (CST)
Competency to Be Sentenced
Competency to Confess
Competency to Stand Trial
Competency to Waive Appeals
Competency to Waive Counsel (Proceed Pro Se)
Conduct Disorder
Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS)
Consent to Clinical Research
Criminal Responsibility Assessment
Criminal Responsibility, Defenses and Standards
Danger Assessment Instrument (DA)
Delusions
Diminished Capacity
Assessment of Disability and Workers’ Compensation Claims
Disparate Treatment and Disparate Impact Evaluations
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Divorce and Child Custody
Domestic Violence Screening Instrument (DVSI)
Ethical Guidelines and Principles
Ethnic Differences in Psychopathy
Evaluation of Competence to Stand Trial–Revised (ECST–R)
Extreme Emotional Disturbance
Financial Capacity
Financial Capacity Instrument (FCI)
Fitness-for-Duty Evaluations
Fitness Interview Test–Revised (FIT–R)
Forensic Assessment
Georgia Court Competence Test (GCCT)
Grisso’s Instruments for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights
Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales
Guilty but Mentally Ill Verdict
Hallucinations
Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (2nd edition) (PCL–R)
Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV)
Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV)
HCR–20 for Violence Risk Assessment
Hopkins Competency Assessment Test (HCAT)
Insanity Defense Reform Act (IDRA)
Interdisciplinary Fitness Interview (IFI)
Jail Screening Assessment Tool (JSAT)
Litigation Stress
MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT–CA)
MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT–T)
MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study
Malingering Probability Scale
Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument–Version 2 (MAYSI–2)
Mens Rea and Actus Reus
Mental Illness and the Death Penalty
Mental Retardation and the Death Penalty
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Assessment
Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test (M–FAST)
Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory–III (MCMI–III)
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (MMPI–2)
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (MMPI–2) Validity Scales
Minnesota Sex Offender Screening Tool–Revised (MnSOST–R)
M’Naghten Standard
Mood Disorders
Novaco Anger Scale
Parens Patriae Doctrine
Parent-Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI)
Parenting Satisfaction Scale (PSS)
Parenting Stress Index (PSI)
Pedophilia
Personal Injury and Emotional Distress
Personality Disorders
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Presentence Evaluations
Psychological Autopsies
Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles
Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI)
Psychopathy
Psychopathy Treatment
Psychotic Disorders
Rapid Risk Assessment for Sexual Offense Recidivism (RRASOR)
Return-to-Work Evaluations
Risk Assessment Approaches
Risk-Sophistication-Treatment Inventory (RSTI)
Rogers Criminal Responsibility Assessment Scales (R–CRAS)
Sex Offender Assessment
Sex Offender Civil Commitment
Sex Offender Needs Assessment Rating (SONAR)
Sex Offender Recidivism
Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide (SORAG)
Sexual Harassment
Sexual Violence Risk–20 (SVR–20)
Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START)
Spousal Assault Risk Assessment (SARA)
STABLE–2007 and ACUTE–2007 Instruments
STATIC–99 and STATIC–2002 Instruments
Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY)
Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS)
Substance Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence
Substance Use Disorder
Suicide Assessment and Prevention in Prisons
Suicide Assessment Manual for Inmates (SAMI)
Testamentary Capacity
Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM)
Uniform Child Custody Evaluation System (UCCES)
Validity Indicator Profile (VIP)
Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG)
Violence Risk Assessment
Waiver to Criminal Court

Juvenile Offenders Research Topics

Adjudicative Competence of Youth
Capacity to Waive Miranda Rights
Juvenile Offenders
Juvenile Offenders Risk Factors
Juvenile Psychopathy
Juvenile Death Penalty
Legal Socialization
Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument–Version 2 (MAYSI–2)
Mental Health Needs of Juvenile Offenders
Risk-Sophistication-Treatment Inventory (RSTI)
Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY)
Victim-Offender Mediation
Waiver to Criminal Court

Mental Health Law Research Topics

Capacity to Consent to Treatment
Civil Commitment
Consent to Clinical Research
End-of-Life Issues
Forcible Medication
Guardianship
Institutionalization and Deinstitutionalization
Mandated Community Treatment
Mental Health Courts
Mental Health Law
Mental Health Needs of Juvenile Offenders
Involuntary Outpatient Commitment
Patient’s Rights
Proxy Decision Making
Psychiatric Advance Directives
Substance Abuse Treatment
Therapeutic Jurisprudence
Psychological Assessment Instruments Research Topics
Ackerman-Schoendorf Parent Evaluation of Custody Test (ASPECT)
Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)
Capacity to Consent to Treatment Instrument (CCTI)
Checklist for Competency for Execution Evaluations
Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory
Classification of Violence Risk (COVR)
Competency Assessment Instrument (CAI)
Competency Screening Test (CST)
Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS)
Danger Assessment Instrument (DA)
Domestic Violence Screening Instrument (DVSI)
Evaluation of Competence to Stand Trial–Revised (ECST–R)
Financial Capacity Instrument (FCI)
Fitness Interview Test–Revised (FIT–R)
Georgia Court Competence Test (GCCT)
Grisso’s Instruments for Assessing Understanding and Appreciation of Miranda Rights
Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales
Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (2nd edition) (PCL–R)
Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV)
Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV)
HCR–20 for Violence Risk Assessment
Hopkins Competency Assessment Test (HCAT)
Interdisciplinary Fitness Interview (IFI)
Jail Screening Assessment Tool (JSAT)
MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Clinical Research (MacCAT–CR)
MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Criminal Adjudication (MacCAT–CA)
MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCat–T)
Malingering Probability Scale
Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument–Version 2 (MAYSI–2)
Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test (M–FAST)
Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory–III (MCMI–III)
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (MMPI–2)
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (MMPI–2) Validity Scales
Minnesota Sex Offender Screening Tool–Revised (MnSOST–R)
Novaco Anger Scale
Parent-Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI)
Parenting Satisfaction Scale (PSS)
Parenting Stress Index (PSI)
Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles
Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI)
Rapid Risk Assessment for Sexual Offense Recidivism (RRASOR)
Risk-Sophistication-Treatment Inventory (RSTI)
Rogers Criminal Responsibility Assessment Scales (R–CRAS)
Sex Offender Needs Assessment Rating (SONAR)
Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide (SORAG)
Sexual Violence Risk–20 (SVR–20)
Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START)
Spousal Assault Risk Assessment (SARA)
STABLE–2007 and ACUTE–2007 Instruments
STATIC–99 and STATIC–2002 Instruments
Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY)
Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS)
Suicide Assessment Manual for Inmates (SAMI)
Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM)
Uniform Child Custody Evaluation System (UCCES)
Validity Indicator Profile (VIP)
Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG)

Psychology of Crime Research Topics

AMBER Alert System
Battered Woman Syndrome
Battered Woman Syndrome, Testimony on
Bias Crimes
Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory
Child Maltreatment
Child Sexual Abuse
Classification of Violence Risk (COVR)
Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS)
Criminal Behavior, Theories of
Criminal Responsibility, Assessment of
Criminal Responsibility, Defenses and Standards
Cybercrime
Domestic Violence Screening Instrument (DVSI)
Elder Abuse
Elderly Defendants
Homicide, Psychology of
Intimate Partner Violence
MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study
Media Violence and Behavior
Obscenity
Pedophilia
Pornography, Effects of Exposure to
Psychological Autopsies
Public Opinion About Crime
Serial Killers
Sex Offender Civil Commitment
Sex Offender Community Notification (Megan’s Laws)
Sex Offender Treatment
Sex Offender Typologies
Stalking
Substance Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence
Suicide by Cop
Terrorism
Therapeutic Communities for Treatment of Substance Abuse
Treatment and Release of Insanity Acquittees
Victim-Offender Mediation With Juvenile Offenders

Psychology of Policing Research Topics

Behavior Analysis Interview
Competency to Confess
Confession Evidence
Crisis and Hostage Negotiation
Critical Incidents
Detection of Deception: Cognitive Load
Detection of Deception: Event-Related Potentials
Detection of Deception: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Detection of Deception: Nonverbal Cues
Detection of Deception: Reality Monitoring
Detection of Deception: Use of Evidence in
Detection of Deception by Detection “Wizards”
Detection of Deception in Adults
Detection of Deception in Children
Detection of Deception in High-Stakes Liars
False Confessions
Fitness-for-Duty Evaluations
Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales
Interrogation of Suspects
Police as Eyewitnesses
Police Decision Making
Police Decision Making and Domestic Violence
Police Interaction With Mentally Ill Individuals
Police Occupational Socialization
Police Psychologists
Police Psychology
Police Selection
Police Stress
Police Training and Evaluation
Police Use of Force
Polygraph and Polygraph Techniques
Profiling
Public Opinion About the Polygraph
Reid Technique for Interrogations
Return-to-Work Evaluations
Statement Validity Assessment (SVA)
Suicide by Cop
Videotaping Confessions

Sentencing and Incarceration Research Topics

Community Corrections
Competency to Be Sentenced
Conditional Release Programs
Death Penalty
Domestic Violence Courts
Drug Courts
Juvenile Boot Camps
Parole Decisions
Presentence Evaluations
Prison Overcrowding
Probation Decisions
Public Opinion About Sentencing and Incarceration
Sentencing Decisions
Sentencing Diversion Programs
Stanford Prison Experiment
Substance Abuse Treatment
Suicide Assessment and Prevention in Prisons
Suicide Assessment Manual for Inmates (SAMI)
Supermax Prisons
Therapeutic Communities for Treatment of Substance Abuse
Treatment and Release of Insanity Acquittees

Symptoms and Disorders Research Topics

Antisocial Personality Disorder
Automatism
Battered Woman Syndrome
Child Maltreatment
Child Sexual Abuse
Conduct Disorder
Delusions
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Hallucinations
Malingering
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Assessment of
Mood Disorders
Pedophilia
Personality Disorders
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Psychopathy
Psychotic Disorders
Substance Use Disorders

Trial Processes Research Topics

Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances in Capital Trials, Effects on Jurors
Alibi Witnesses
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Amicus Curiae Briefs
Bail-Setting Decisions
Battered Woman Syndrome, Testimony on
Chicago Jury Project
Children’s Testimony
Children’s Testimony, Evaluation by Juries
Complex Evidence in Litigation
Confession Evidence
CSI Effect
Damage Awards
Death Qualification of Juries
Domestic Violence Courts
Drug Courts
“Dynamite Charge”
Elderly Defendants
Expert Psychological Testimony
Expert Psychological Testimony, Admissibility Standards
Expert Psychological Testimony, Forms of
Expert Psychological Testimony on Eyewitness Identification
Expert Testimony, Qualifications of Experts
Fingerprint Evidence, Evaluation of
Hearsay Testimony
Inadmissible Evidence, Impact on Juries
Insanity Defense, Juries and
Judges’ Nonverbal Behavior
Juries and Eyewitnesses
Juries and Joined Trials
Juries and Judges’ Instructions
Jury Administration Reforms
Jury Competence
Jury Decisions Versus Judges’ Decisions
Jury Deliberation
Jury Nullification
Jury Questionnaires
Jury Reforms
Jury Selection
Jury Size and Decision Rule
Jury Understanding of Judges’ Instructions in Capital Cases
Legal Authoritarianism
Legal Negotiation
Legal Socialization
Leniency Bias
Litigation Stress
Mental Health Courts
Parole Decisions
Plea Bargaining
Pretrial Publicity, Impact on Juries
Probation Decisions
Procedural Justice
Prosecutorial Misconduct
Public Opinion About Crime
Public Opinion About the Courts
Public Opinion About the Polygraph
Race, Impact on Juries
Racial Bias and the Death Penalty
Religion and the Death Penalty
Scientific Jury Selection
Sexual Harassment, Jury Evaluation of
Statistical Information, Impact on Juries
“Stealing Thunder”
Story Model for Juror Decision Making
Translated Testimony
Trial Consulting
U.S. Supreme Court
Victim Impact Statements
Voir Dire
Witness Preparation
Wrongful Conviction

Victim Reactions to Crime Research Topics

Battered Woman Syndrome
Child Maltreatment
Child Sexual Abuse
Coping Strategies of Adult Sexual Assault Victims
Danger Assessment Instrument (DA)
Elder Abuse
Intimate Partner Violence
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Rape Trauma Syndrome
Reporting Crimes and Victimization
Sexual Harassment
Stalking
Victimization
Victim-Offender Mediation With Juvenile Offenders
Victim Participation in the Criminal Justice System

Violence Risk Assessment Research Topics

Classification of Violence Risk (COVR)
Danger Assessment Instrument (DA)
Domestic Violence Screening Instrument (DVSI)
Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (2nd edition) (PCL–R)
Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV)
Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV)
HCR–20 for Violence Risk Assessment
Jail Screening Assessment Tool (JSAT)
MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study
Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument–Version 2 (MAYSI–2)
Minnesota Sex Offender Screening Tool–Revised (MnSOST–R)
Novaco Anger Scale
Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI)
Psychopathy
Psychopathy, Treatment of
Rapid Risk Assessment for Sexual Offense Recidivism (RRASOR)
Risk Assessment Approaches
Sex Offender Assessment
Sex Offender Civil Commitment
Sex Offender Needs Assessment Rating (SONAR)
Sex Offender Recidivism
Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide (SORAG)
Sexual Violence Risk–20 (SVR–20)
Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START)
Spousal Assault Risk Assessment (SARA)
STABLE–2007 and ACUTE–2007 Instruments
STATIC–99 and STATIC–2002 Instruments
Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY)
Substance Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence
Substance Use Disorders
Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG)
Violence Risk Assessment