FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY: NEED FOR EXPERT SERVICES IN CRIME DETECTION, PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIA

Forensic Psychology is a relatively new field within psychology and it is still having growing pains in Nigeria as a nation. The Nigerian Psychologists have been limited mostly to health care services and delivery, just as they are experts who have sufficient training in describing, predicting, understanding and influencing behaviour, criminal behaviour is not exceptional as it forms part of the behavioural disposition of humans. This paper therefore, tries to explore the roles and subfields of forensic psychology such as, psychology of crime and delinquency, victimology, legal psychology, correctional psychology and police psychology. Relevant areas which forensic psychologists have a role to play in criminal justice system include: forensic evaluation and expert witness in the court, assessment and evaluation of risk of offenders, classification of inmates, and provision of mental health care to inmates and staff of the prison/correction homes, fitness for duty evaluation of law enforcement officers and profiling of offenders. The paper concludes that the involvement of forensic psychologists in the criminal justice system of Nigeria will enhance and improve services provided by all three arms of the system.