Good professional practice, the path to professional excellence in Forensic Psychology

Abstract

The current legislative situation allows any professional in psychology to make an expert psychological report, as there is at present a regulation of Legal or Forensic Psychology. This situation results in that, in the best cases only with an adjustment to the code of ethics, expert opinions are issued, which, although they do not have deontological notes, leave much to be desired, and raise doubts about the expert work done by professionals of the Psychology, leaving the door open to constant questioning from other professions, regarding the scientific nature of our profession. The expert work involves both research and forensic evaluation, following the scientific method, which entails the elaboration of hypotheses that the professional must falsify throughout his evaluation to conclude with soundness and scientific rigor, answering the question asked. For this reason, the preparation of an expert report goes well beyond the written report of the conclusions about the results obtained by the persons evaluated through psychological tests, in accordance with the norms established in the Code of Ethics of the Psychologist.