In August of 2006, a girl met a boy. Where? On myspace, of course. The teen had been contacted by the boy who claimed to have moved from Florida to nearby O’Fallon. Their Internet relationship blossomed over the next six weeks, and the girl was on cloud nine. But then, the proverbial hammer fell and on Sunday, October 15, 2006, the boy contacted her stating he wanted to break off their relationship.
“Every era has its dangerous ideas. For millennia, the monotheistic religions have persecuted countless heresies, together with nuisances from science such as geocentrism, biblical archeology, and the theory of evolution. We can be thankful that the punishments have changed from torture and mutilation to the canceling of grants and the writing of vituperative reviews. But intellectual intimidation, whether by sword or by pen, inevitably shapes the ideas that are taken seriously in a given era, and the rear-view mirror of history presents us with a warning.” — Steven Pinker, 2007
It has been stated that tragedies bring out the best in us. They also bring out the worst. This seems especially so when the tragedy involves a child. Unlike adult victims however, child victims are generally shielded from the media spotlight. For several reasons, the least of which involves the basic premise that we, as a civilized society, consider it extremely distasteful to feast upon our children’s pain. Or so we claim…
If you were to walk up to any stranger and ask if they could detect a lie, there is a high probability that you would receive an affirmative answer. Research however indicates that our ability to detect a lie is no better than chance. Still, we persist and in a sense the criminal justice system reflects just how tenaciously we hold to this mythological belief.
The field of forensic psychology is generally about psychology and the legal system. There is however one area of which few may be aware. Forensic psychologist also consult in domains that have an international impact. Take the war on terrorism, for example.
