APA Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology
Definition
The 2013 APA document setting professional and ethical standards for forensic psychologists in the US across eleven sections covering responsibilities, competence, relationships, and testimony.
- Published by
- American Psychological Association
- Year
- 2013
- Structure
- Eleven sections
- Coverage
- Responsibilities, competence, relationships, and testimony
Common questions
Are these guidelines legally binding on forensic psychologists?+
They are aspirational professional guidance rather than enforceable law, though courts, licensing boards, and ethics complaints frequently reference them as the standard of practice a competent forensic psychologist is expected to meet.
How do these guidelines differ from the general APA ethics code?+
The general ethics code applies to all psychologists, while these specialty guidelines address situations specific to forensic work, such as dual relationships between evaluator and evaluee, informed consent when a court orders the evaluation, and how to communicate findings as expert testimony.
Related terms
- ANZAPPL
- Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, the primary regional professional society for forensic mental health practitioners.
- AP-LS
- American Psychology-Law Society, APA Division 41, the primary US professional society for forensic psychology, publisher of Law and Human Behavior.
- BPS Division of Forensic Psychology
- The British Psychological Society division that accredits forensic psychology training and awards Chartered Forensic Psychologist status in the UK.
- Clinical Forensic Psychology
- The branch of forensic psychology concerned with individual-level assessment for court purposes, including competency evaluations, insanity assessments, and violence risk assessment.
- Daubert Standard
- The US federal evidentiary standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring that expert testimony be based on scientifically valid methods with...
- Forensic Psychology
- The application of psychological science to questions arising in legal, criminal justice, and public policy contexts, spanning clinical assessment, investigative practice, and...
- Frye Standard
- The US legal test for admissibility of scientific evidence, originating from Frye v. United States (1923), which required that a technique be...
- IHBAS
- Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, Delhi, providing forensic mental health evaluations under the Delhi state government framework.
- Investigative Psychology
- David Canter's empirically grounded approach to behavioural analysis, using multivariate statistical methods and systematic case comparison rather than clinical inference from interview-based...
- NIMHANS
- National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore; India's principal academic forensic mental health centre, providing court-ordered assessments and limited forensic treatment...
- Rehabilitation Council of India
- Indian statutory body regulating clinical psychology (and related professions); requires M.Phil. (Clinical Psychology) as the minimum registration qualification; no distinct forensic psychology...