12
means that they study the relation of the person‟s behavior in different situations and surroundings and they
give true meaning to the family‟s early influence. As a rule that connection is accredited to consistency, that
is to say is accredited to the permanent characteristics of the person that they got in the early and important
period in the family. In the forensic psychology it is important to follow and examine specific behavior (of
the delinquent) as well as specific situations (during the criminal act). With direct psychological examination
the mental state and capabilities of the defendant during the trial are determined, then, with the method of
reconstruction, by using all available data from the court proceedings, the connection between the
established finding and the committed crime is examined from the aspect of motivation and eventual
connection with the psychopathological aspects. With everything mentioned above we can conclude that the
main purpose of psychological examination of the person during a lawsuit is to supplement the judicial
process with such data that would enable an understanding for the whole “subjective” situation that triggered
the criminal act. This kind of research enables realistic evaluation of the motive, guiltiness, premeditation
and the calculation. All this is important for determining the adequate sanction.
3.
PSYCHOLOGY OF TESTIMONY
Judicial psychology, in a wider sense is also called legal psychology, is an independent scientific
discipline which deals with studying the mental functions and mental characteristics whose presentation is
useful for the successful performance of the judicial functions and for adequate implementation of the law
6
.
As the most significant part, the legal psychology separates itself in a more narrow sense, which deals
with the statement and the mental processes that participate in its formation for the participants of the trial. In
the frames of this scientific discipline a primary meaning has the psychology of the criminal act as its most
transparent part because the events that take place during the trial are intense and have strong psychological
influence on all participants in the process. “In the context of the psychology of the criminal act, considering
the degree of the scientific foundation, dominant is the psychology of the testimony for which it can be said
that is represents basic segment of the judicial psychology in a wider sense. As we can see from the title, the
scientific focus is on the testimony”.
7
To get a testimony from a suspect, witness or a victim it is necessary to use the knowledge of the
psychology, so that the principles for a successful conduct of the
interview are applied, which will contribute
to solve the case. “The investigative interview that is employed in the criminalistics is one of the most
important tools of the police in the prevention, discovering and solving the crime. It is a dynamic and
interactive social process through which useful information can be gathered, if the criminalist that carries out
the interview has abilities to establish a communication with the suspect and to have knowledge not only of
the criminology but of the domain of the psychology as well, so that he can lead and conduct the interview
successfully in different criminal cases and suspects”.
8
The investigative interviewing is a term used in the Great Britain to describe
the police interviewing of
suspects, witnesses, victims and the person who called it in whose main purpose is to gather information
about the actual state. “Police uses investigative interview different than other professions, mainly because
the topics of conversation between police officers and the suspect is confidential and related to the privacy of
the person.
9
”
“Traditionally, the main purpose of interviewing the suspect has been to obtain a confession which
was then used as evidence in court against the suspect”.
10
The investigative interview used by the police
officers is one of the most important investigative tools that serve the police and it is influenced by various
factors: the characteristics of the committed crime, the capability of the police officer in conducting the
interview and the individual characteristics of the suspect. Whether the interview will lead
to the information
needed depends, above all, on the capability of the police officer to make contact and to carry out an
interview because he is in charge of the process.
Considering the fact that the essence of the interview is communication, it is essential to master
communication skills. The skill for asking questions during the interview is the key to success or failure of
the interview, and certain peculiarities have to be taken care of when it comes to interviewing a suspect, a
6
Delic. N.,
Court psychology as training and scientific discipline CRIMEN (III) 1/2012, p.39 – 52, Faculty of Security, Belgrade,
2012
7
Same
8
Batic, D., Gogov, B., :
The meaning of the research interview with the suspect in police investigations, Horizons, International
scientific magazine, year IX, no. 10, 2013.
9
Roso, Z., :
Informative conversations and interviews. Republican secretariat for internal affairs, Croatia, Zagreb, 1988
10
Gudjonssogn, H., (1992)
The psychology of Interrogation, Confession and Testimony (Chichester, John Wiley and Sons)