Legal Psychology in Spain History and Development

The Legal psychology in Spain, It is a scientific discipline between psychology and law. According to the Official College of Psychologists, it includes:

• Study
• Explanation
• Promotion
• Assessment
• Prevention
• Advice and/or treatment

Of those psychological, behavioral and relational phenomena that affect the legal behavior of people, through the use of methods of scientific psychology.

Content

• Legal Psychology in Spain: Background
  • Legal psychology during the Second Republic
  • Legal psychology during Franco and postfranchism
  • 80s
  • 90's
  • Legal psychology today
• Legal psychology in Spain: conclusions
  • References

Legal Psychology in Spain: Background

The first background of the Legal psychology in Spain They can be in the early contributions of Luis Vives and Juan Huarte de San Juan, in the 16th century. In this early time, the existence of a concern for crime and applied orientation of psychology is already denoted.

In the nineteenth century, a deeper analysis of the offender will be developed and the concept of grief. A first order event is the Development of the First Spanish Criminal Code in 1822. There are several currents that will address these issues, where anthropological concern, frenology, legal medicine, krausism and criminology are found.

It is also noteworthy the contributions of jurists. These collect the approaches of psychoanalysis and introduce in the field of law the knowledge derived from psychology.

They stand out from these to:

• Camargo Marín, that in 1930 public Psychoanalysis and practice judicial
• Jiménez de Asúa, also law expert, who wrote Criminal psychoanalysis
• Other jurists of the time who were interested in psychological issues of law were Saldaña, Quirós and Neck among others.

Legal psychology during the Second Republic

He Manual of Legal Psychology of Mira I López (1932) It is the first publication on the subject that appears in Spain, being considered start point of this field of study.

In his work, collected contributions from different psychology schools to the legal field: behaviorism, psychoanalysis, personality, gestalt psychology, evolutionary genetics, neurology, constitutional and typological psychology.

He discussed issues about testimony, crime understanding, forensic reports, moral reform and mental health.

Legal psychology during Franco and postfranchism

In 1965, the First Department of Psychology was created In the prison of Madrid, directed by Jesús Alarcón, putting into operation three years later the General Department of Penitentiary Observation for the Classification, where psychologists, educators and jurists worked as a team.

During the seventies, There will be a series of events that will constitute the basis for the development and subsequent settlement of the Legal psychology in Spain.

• First, in 1971 They leave the universities of Madrid and Barcelona, The first two promotions of Spanish psychologists
• Then, in the same year, The Department of Sociology and Psychology is created Legal of the Barcelona Bar Association
• In addition, from here it would emerge, in 1974, the magazine Yearbook of Sociology and Legal Psychology, Directed by Muñoz Sabaté, who would write shortly after Bayés and Munné the text INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL PSYCHOLOGY (Muñoz Sabaté, Bayés and Munné, 1980)
• In fact, in this one the articles published by these authors were collected in the preceding years in the aforementioned magazine being considered as the First Spanish text about the subject of this new stage
• Also, another relevant event was The celebration in 1976 of the First International Congress of Legal Psychology in Spain
• In 1979, the entry into force of the Penitentiary Law will imply the emergence of the psychologist in prisons

80s

An important event will open the eighties, lto creation in 1980 of the Official College of Psychologists. Subsequently, in Madrid (1987) and in Barcelona (1989) the legal psychology commissions would begin to operate.

In 1981, the Divorce Law and the consequent creation of the Family Courts, will be responsible for the incorporation of the psychologist as part of the psychosocial teams.

Five years later, psychologists will be incorporated into the Medical-Forensic Clinics and the Courts of Minors. In addition, in this decade there are a greater number of publications.

We must also highlight the appearance of monographic numbers throughout the 80s on legal psychology in the magazine Psychologist's papers. In 1989 the magazine began to be published Delinquency and in 1991 from the College of Psychologists the edition of the LEGAL PSYCHOLOGY YEARBOOK.

90's

At the beginning of the nineties different days and congresses are held, where Legal psychology will have a representation as one of the main thematic areas. Bajet I Royo (1995) points out the existence of four basic elements for the consolidation of the profession:

• A tendency to association
• The publication of books and magazines
• The specialized in the subject, the institutionalization, especially for the law, of the Psychologists as professionals in the legal context
• The creation of a Specific university curriculum, highlighting in this line the special contributions of authors such as Burillo, Clemente, Seoane, Munné, Sobral, Diges, etc.

Legal psychology today

Currently, Legal psychology has a scientific, historical, research, professional and legal legitimacy. In addition, it presents three types of approaches:

• First, the need to have the discoveries of psychology To obtain the legal evidence
• Then, the Scientific qualification of the psychologist To issue forensic reports
• Finally, the influence of psychological knowledge about legal change

Although all research areas are represented among Spanish researchers, there are some that stand out:

• Penitentiary research: focused on the application and evaluation of programs
• Study of crime: Evaluation and predictors, prevention and treatment
• Victimology and forensic aspects: expert opinions, testimony studies, jury decisions

Legal psychology in Spain: conclusions

The interest in achieving broad and well -founded compression of the subjects who carry out deviant behaviors, as well as the possible answers that society can give to these, it has in our cultural tradition a long past. However, The time during which there has been an effective legal psychology is very short.

References

• Bayes, r., & Munné, F. (1980). INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL PSYCHOLOGY. TRILLAS EDITORIAL.
• Look I López, E. (1932). LEGAL PSYCHOLOGY MANUAL. Barcelona: Salvat.
• Muñoz Sabaté, L. (1980). The psychological expert opinion before the courts. L. Muñoz Sabaté, R. Bayés and f. Munné. INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL PSYCHOLOGY. Mexico: Trillas.
• Oneca, j. TO. (1965). History of the Criminal Code of 1822. Yearbook of Criminal Law and Criminal Sciences, 18(2), 263-278.