The science of judicial psychology

• Author: Petru Tarchila
• Position: Faculty of Humanities 'Aurel Vlaicu' University of Arad
• Pages: 92-101

AGORA International Journal of Juridical Sciences, http://univagora.ro/jour/index.php/aijjs

ISSN 1843-570X, E-ISSN 2067-7677

No. 2 (2018), pp. 92-101

92

THE SCIENCE OF JUDICIAL PSYCHOLOGY

P. TĂRCHILĂ

Petru TĂRCHILĂ

Faculty of Humanities

„Aurel Vlaicu” University of Arad

Corespondence: Complex Universitar M (Micălaca), str. Elena Drăgoi, nr. 2, 310330, Arad

E-mail: ijjs@univagora.ro

ABSTRACT: Judicial psychology is the science that analyzes and tries to understand

the criminal phenomenon in general and its determinant factor in particular, by the

complexity of factors that generate it and by the diversity of its forms of manifestation.

Although the determining factor of criminal behavior is always subjective being generated by

the psychic of the offender, this aspect must be correlated with the context in which it

manifests itself: social, economic, cultural context etc. Judicial psychology investigates the

behavior of the individual in all its aspects, seeking a scientific explanation of the

mechanisms and factors enhancing criminal favors, thus enabling the identification of the

preventive measures to be taken to reduce the categories of offenses. It studies the psycho-

behavioral profile of the offender, identifying the causes that determined its behavior in order

to take preventive measures.

The domain of judicial psychology is mainly deviance, conduct that departs from the

moral or legal norms that are dominant in a given culture. The object of judicial psychology

is the criminal act, correlated with the psychosocial characteristics of the participants in the

judicial action (offender, victim, witness, investigator, magistrate, lawyer, civil party,

educator, etc.). The science of judicial psychology also analyzes how these characteristics

appear and manifest themselves in concrete and special conditions of their interaction in

three phases of the criminal act: the pre-criminal phase, the actual criminal phase and the

post-criminal phase.

KEYWORDS: judicial psychology, offender, victim, pre-criminal phase, post-

criminal phase, criminal offense, psycho-behavioral profile of the offende

I. THE SCIENCE OF JUDICIAL PSYCHOLOGY.

Judicial psychology is the science that analyzes and tries to understand the criminal

phenomenon in general and its determinant factor in particular, by the complexity of factors

that generate it and by the diversity of its forms of manifestation.

1

Although the determining

factor of criminal behavior is always subjective being generated by the psychic of the

offender, this aspect must be correlated with the context in which it manifests itself: social,

economic, cultural context etc. Judicial psychology investigates the behavior of the individual

in all its aspects, seeking a scientific explanation of the mechanisms and factors enhancing

criminal favors, thus enabling the identification of the preventive measures to be taken to

reduce the categories of offenses. It studies the psycho-behavioral profile of the offender,

1

See,Butoi,T.,Psihologie judiciară,Ediţia a II-a,Editura Fundaţiei România de Mâine Bucureşti 2004 ,pag.221.