The juridic psychology it's adis a discipline that performs a special task at the request of the legal field since it focuses on the study of the behavior and conducts exhibited by legal actors. It understands various aspects, such as the study, explanation, evaluation, prevention, counseling and treatment of psychological and behavioral phenomena that affect the legal behavior of individuals.
It is based on methods of the Scientific Psychology and it usually intervenes at different levels and areas of the judicial environment such as: psychology applied in courts, in penitentiaries, in delinquency, in mediation, among others.
The professional specialized in this area is called legal psychologist and his training includes, of course, knowledge in psychology and also those inherent to the judicial environment in which he has to carry out his professional activity.
Among his tasks, the following functions stand out: evaluation and diagnosis of the psychic conditions of the legal actor in question; provide advice to those judicial bodies that request it; design and planning of special plans to prevent, treat, rehabilitate and reintegrate those legal actors in the community to which they belong; train and advise professionals and employees in the field of justice and law, such as: lawyers, prison staff, police, prosecutors and judges, either in content or techniques necessary for their jobs; study the problems surrounding each case; assist the victim both with regard to their relationship with the legal system and with regard to their personal improvement; and promote proposals that help to solve the legal conflicts in which it intervenes, therefore, it is that a conciliatory and peaceful attitude is required.
Although from what is stated in the previous paragraph it is clear the varied intervention that legal psychology and its professionals have, it should be noted that it is in criminal law, in penitentiaries and in mediations where the presence of this discipline is most appreciated and where it is key when it comes to: presenting reports on accused to judges and courts, evaluating and studying the psyche of detainees in a prison unit and creating favorable conditions for the parties in dispute to reach an agreement, respectively.
