Psychologists play a vital role in the jury selection process owing to the professional contribution made for the selection of those who will become part of a jury. Psychologists use their knowledge of people that assist the criminal defense attorney in charge to select jurors that are bound to be sympathetic to the defendant and thus acuity them. In a similar manner, forensic psychologists are called upon by the prosecuting attorney to select, based on their knowledge on criminal behavior, a jury that is likely to convict the defendant. Some of the psychological concepts employed in jury selection are prejudice and discrimination, stereotypes, and social influence. Prejudice and discrimination are used to establish the credibility and lack of bias of jurors, whereas stereotypes are used to establish the possibility of bias based on existing stereotypes among jurors. Social influence is a concept that helps psychologists establish the likelihood of social influence, such as the issue of immigrants, on jurors. Establishing such factors helps psychologists weed out biased jurors, thus remaining with those who are likely to make neutral decisions.
A common challenge facing psychologist with regards to law enforcement may be that of dual relationships. This occurs when a psychologist builds a relationship with an individual such as a police officer who is undergoing an issue that requires a psychological evaluation. In the event the superiors of such an officer ask the psychologist to establish their viability for a certain job, the psychologists may be biased considering some of the personal things they know about the officer such as his family or past (In Weiner & In Goldstein, 2003). Among the ethical challenges for a psychologist associated with correction is that of dual roles where a psychologist has to look out for society’s interest as well as that of an individual serving a correction term. A psychologist must ensure the individual’s mental health is restored, while the person also stays in prison long enough to go back to society a rehabilitated individual, thus presenting the ethical challenge of establishing when to release such an individual.
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Regarding court systems, psychologists face an ethical issue of confidentiality. This is because they may have to disclose some of the information about a criminal that may have been said in confidentiality to help provide direction for decision making in a certain court case. In the area of academia, psychologists may face the ethical issue or challenge related to obtaining informed consent in the event of gathering data to use for decision making. For instance, if psychologists are to establish whether there exist certain forms of biased exclusion for certain students in some schools, they may wish to interview the affected student population. However, since they are minors, psychologists may need to explain fully what it is that they intend on asking such students so that they can provide the information freely without being deceived.
There are ways of overcoming the challenges, however, through mitigation by the psychologists. For instance, regarding confidentiality, psychologists can avoid collecting personal details from participants so as to avoid disclosing the same. Regarding informed consent, psychologists may give prior general consent, where they inform participants of possible deception so that the informant can decide whether to continue with the process of giving out information (In Weiner & In Goldstein, 2003). Concerning the issue of dual relationships, psychologists should practice neutrality by avoiding collecting personal information of informants. Also in the case of dual roles, psychologists should practice neutrality to avoid bias in favor of either party.
References
In Weiner, I. B., & In Goldstein, A. M. (2003). Handbook of psychology: Vol. 11 . New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.
Koocher, G. P. (2009). Ethics and the invisible psychologist. American psychological Association. Retrieved December 14, 2018, from, http://www.ethicsresearch.com/images/Ethics_and_the_Invisble_Psychologist.pdf
