Forensic Psychology

Professor Jennifer Brown is currently the co director of the Mannheim Centre for Criminology at the London School of Economics. She has had a varied career including a period working for the Hampshire Constabulary as their research manager  and has held appointments at the University of Portsmouth  and University of Surrey. From 2011 to 2013 she was the deputy chair of the Independent Police Commission.Yvonne Shell is currently a forensic  clinical psychologist working in the fields of Addictions and Sex Offender Treatment. Her career has previously included working in both medium and maximum security settings for the Ministry of Justice,  and also in medium and maximum security psychiatric establishments such as Broadmoor Hospital, specialising in the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders and  working with those diagnosed with personality disorders. She has also worked as an Expert Witness and worked directly with Police Services to  develop initiatives to address local areas of identified need.  Yvonne has also held a Senior Academic post at Canterbury Christ Church University and Honorary posts at the University of Surrey, University of Portsmouth and Canterbury University. Terri Cole has worked nationally alongside the police advising on behavioural aspects of serious crime investigation for 17 years.  Firstly working as a placement student at the National Crime Faculty alongside investigators and clinicians, then as an assistant and serious crime analyst in the Serious Crime Analysis Section and for the last 13 years as a Behavioural Investigative Adviser (at the National Crime Agency and precursor organisations). Her specialism is in relation to behavioural analyses of murder, rape and sexual offences committed by strangers. She has advised and provided reports to investigations in relation to offender profiling, offence linkage, crime scene assessment and prioritisation of persons of interest.  She also worked for a number of years as a Victim Support volunteer. She has a first class undergraduate degree in Psychology with Criminal Justice from the University of Plymouth, and a PhD from the University of Surrey which explored a pragmatic psychological approach to the provision of behavioural investigative advice for difficult to detect murder investigations in the UK.  Other research interests have included offender signature in serial rape, what Senior Investigators want from Behavioural Investigative Advisers, when such advice should be delivered, and offender post offence behaviour in homicide. She has spoken at numerous conferences and as a guest lecturer on many under and post graduate courses. She is a member of the British Psychological Society.

What separates this book from numerous others in the field of forensic psychology is its refreshingly realistic, honest and systemic examination of the role of forensic psychologists in the criminal justice system. The authors balance a ‘warts and all’ account of the difficult aspects of the role with an encouraging focus on how forensic psychologists can work effectively, even within difficult political climates. An essential text for those considering venturing into the world of forensic psychology work. Likewise, it is a worthwhile text for more experienced practitioners, of all forensic disciplines.

• Chapter 1: Scene SettingChapter 2: Place SettingChapter 3: The Legal SettingChapter 4: Ideological ContextChapter 5: Political ContextChapter 6: Theoretical ContextChapter 7: ResearchingChapter 8: VictimsChapter 9: Profiling OffendersChapter 10: AssessmentChapter 11: Treatment and RehabilitationChapter 12: Report WritingChapter 13: Re-imagining Forensic Psychology