Forensic Psychology and Criminal Investigation - Essay Example

Research indicates that people with low IQ when subjected to environmental factors tend to be at greater risk of behavioural problems than people with normal IQ (Jones, 2007). When dealing with people experiencing learning or developmental disorders, it must be kept in mind that their relation of events and causes may be either exaggerated or underreported given their psychological limitations. Similarly, such people may also withhold information from the investigative process feeling that this information may be irrelevant (Gillberg, 2002).

On the other hand, there is also the chance that people with learning and developmental disorders may not be good at communication due to their minimal socialisation which would limit their effective communication through the investigative process. Other people with learning and developmental disorders may be easily pressured into producing false testimonies (Murphy, 2003). Such people may provide false accounts since they do not possess adequate coping mechanisms and so the simplest way to deflect the stress of an investigation would be to produce a false testimony.

Consequently, the investigative process may be derailed or misled based on the testimony of an individual suffering from learning or developmental disorders (Young, 2005). Asperger’s syndrome (AS) has positively been identified in the case of offenders to cause problems such as egocentrism, low empathy and impulsivity leading to hurdles in the investigative process (Murphy, 2007). In a similar manner other disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) are known to cause problems in the investigative process due to difficult social relations, substance abuse, obsessive behaviours etc.

on the part of the person being investigated (Gudjonsson, 2003). Another allied problem is the change in facial expressions in the case of individuals suffering