ABSTRACT
Forensic behavioural approaches contribute to justice through research and practical applications. However, practical applications have often been introduced before a base of research evidence has been established. This chapter examines the current state of research and practice in several areas of forensic behavioural and social sciences. It begins by exploring the interesting but controversial area of offender profiling. It outlines research on the ways that offenders try to conceal crimes and evade police detection through the staging of homicides as other types of crimes or incidents. The chapter then turns to the incidence of wrongful convictions and research that contributes to reducing future occurrences by identifying and developing best practices in areas such as police investigative interviews and eyewitness identifications. Finally, the chapter considers the field of mental health assessment, such as fitness to stand trial, sanity determinations, and risk assessments for offender management and treatment purposes. It highlights that although a great deal of research has focused on validating assessment tools, far less research has examined the human factors that can introduce bias into assessment practices. From a critical forensic studies perspective, several common themes and issues can be drawn together to highlight emerging directions for research and practice.
