Forensic Psychology: Examination of Behavioral Evidence

The purpose of this study is to identify how forensic psychology can be used to analyze a crime. Forensic psychology is a field of study that focuses on the application of clinical psychology to the legal arena. For the most part, forensic psychology has gained widespread recognition mainly because of crime books, movies, as well as, television shows. As such, it is widely used today to solve various crimes. At the same time, forensic psychology focuses on gathering physical and behavioral evidence, victimology, and offender typology which generate reliable information that can be employed in solving a crime. 

Forensic Psychology: Examination of Behavioral Evidence 

Generally speaking, there has been considerable attention to forensic psychology from the media and public during the past years mostly because of films, books, as well as television series such as criminal minds. Forensic psychology, in essence, refers to the application of clinical psychology to the legal sector. Thus, clinical psychology is applied to the forensic arena. Forensic psychology is proven to be useful in solving crimes mainly because of criminal profiling. In this regard, this paper seeks to examine a crime scene, where a female victim has been stabbed 13 times by analyzing the evidence present in the crime scene. 

Physical Evidence: The Crime Scene 

Ideally, physical evidence is grouped in accordance with the kind of crime, its physical state, and the evidence nature, its composition, or the kinds of queries to be resolved. These classifications are beneficial for providing practical approaches and conceptual ideas in investigating the crime scene. Physical evidence is generally any form of evidence that can offer beneficial information to solve the crime (Lee & Pagliaro, 2013). It plays a vital and a specifically valuable role. Apart from physical evidence, all other information sources suffer from limited reliability issues. It is therefore important to correctly preserve physical evidence since it offers reliable and objective information concerning the incident being investigated. 

When examining the crime scene where a female victim is found in the kitchen stabbed 13 times, numerous physical evidence can be collected from the scene. First, a knife is next to the victim. Second, a knife holder can be seen on the kitchen counter. Third, there is a gun in a drawer. Fourth, the condition of the body of the victim is also another physical evidence. The coroner asserted that the victim’s fingernails were broken and she had bruises on her upper arms. Fifth, assessing the pattern evidence such as stain patterns and furniture position pattern is vital. The room was actually in turmoil when the detective arrived. Sixth, one can also look at the transfer evidence such as fingerprint, blood, fiber, and hair. This kind of evidence is normally analyzed in the forensic laboratory (Lee & Pagliaro, 2013). Seventh, there is medical evidence such as the type and degree of the victim’s injury, condition of the wound, and the medical history. Lastly, electronics such as computers, cell phones, IPad, and video cameras should be collected if present at the crime scene. 

Behavioral Evidence: The Crime Scene 

Behavioral evidence is notably any documentary, physical, or testimonial proof that aids to determine whether, how, or when an activity has occurred. It is imperative to mote that physical evidence may qualify to be behavioral evidence under the correct circumstances (Turvey, 2015). In light of these realities, the behavioral evidence that can be collected from the crime scene is footwear and prints since they can show presence, walking, or standing. Also, the patterns of bloodstain can pinpoint presence, movement, or contact. More so, fingerprints can be examined as behavioral evidence since they can prove contact, presence, and utilization of an object. As a result, all items at the crime scene should be dusted for fingerprints. In addition, the injuries on the victim’s body can also indicate contact, presence, intent, and the amount of force. Lastly, carrying out toxicology examinations is imperative as they can suggest the presence of alcohol, drugs, or toxins in the victim’s system. These affect judgement, cognition, health, and state of mind which, in turn, influence behavior. 

Victimology 

Markedly, victimology is investigating, determining, and evaluating the traits and history of the victim. Therefore, learning everything about the victim is paramount (Petherick & Ferguson, 2015; Dhrami, 2015). For instance, researching about where and how the victim spent her time, how she lived her life or whether she received any threats recently. Also, the fact that the victim had well-developed muscles can be an indication that the victim used to exercise regularly. Understanding the victim’s traits and history may be helpful in knowing the offender’s motive, fantasy, skill, and knowledge. 

Offender Typology 

Ideally, offender typology can be helpful in knowing the offender’s characteristics. The FBI classifies offenders as either organized or disorganized. Establishing a crime scene as organized or disorganized largely depends on how the offender planned the crime (Holmes & Holmes, 2009). When examining our crime scene, the offender appears to be disorganized because the crime scene reveals unplanned and chaotic behavior. For instance, the offender improvised a weapon where he or she used a kitchen knife from the victim’s house to stab the victim. Also, the offender left the murder weapon at the scene. This suggests that the offender possibly knew the victim and his intelligence level was low. 

Possible Scenarios 

First, because there is no evidence of breaking and entering, there is a high likelihood that the victim knew the killer. The offender might be a friend, thus, the victim invited the killer into her house, they had a fight and the killer took a knife from the kitchen and stabbed her. However, the victim tried to defend herself before she died which explains the bruises on her upper arms and the broken fingernails. Second, the killer might be a family member who knew exactly how to enter the house and that the family will not be home at a particular time. The victim suspected she was in danger and that is why she had a gun. They had a fight with the offender who eventually stabbed her before she had the time to reach for the gun. Also, the victim was stabbed 13 times which suggests that the offender had serious anger towards the victim. 

Conclusion 

Forensic psychology is useful in solving crimes. Analyzing a crime scene, in terms of the physical and behavioral evidence, victimology, and offender typology is vital to effectively solve a crime. Such factors aid in generating objective and reliable information concerning a crime. From the evidence gathered at the crime scene, it is clear that the offender knew the victim and was aware that the family will not be home at a certain time. This suggests that the killer was either a friend or a family member. 

References  

Dhrami, I. (2015). Victimology: Analyzing behavioral consistency and inconsistency in serial homicide . NY, NY: John Jay College of Criminal Justice. 

Holmes, R. M., & Holmes, S. T. (2009). Profiling violent crimes: An investigative tool . Los Angeles: Sage. 

Lee, H. C., & Pagliaro, E. M. (2013). Forensic Evidence and Crime Scene Investigation. Journal of Forensic Investigation, 01 (02). doi:10.13188/2330-0396.1000004 

Petherick, W., & Ferguson, C. (2015). Forensic Victimology. Applied Crime Analysis, 62-80. doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-29460-7.00004-1 

Turvey, B. E. (2015). Criminal profiling: An introduction to behavioral evidence analysis . San Diego, CA: Academic.