Does O.J. Need a Forensic Psychologist?
Lenore Walker, Ed. D., Psychology Professor, Center for Psychological Studies, Nova Southeastern University and President & CEO of Walker & Associates, Fort Lauderdale When we think about a forensic psychologist, we often think about getting help in understanding the criminal mind and being able to profile serial killers, as the FBI does to help catch the bad guys. Although I was the forensic psychologist hired on the O.J. Simpson case, I gained no better answer to the question of whether or not he killed his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson or her friend, Ron Goldman. Nor could I predict with scientific data about whether he would kill again, although I could perform a risk assessment that could assess within a reasonable degree of psychological probability if he is dangerous. For many years, our psychological experiments indicated that we were no better than the average layperson in predicting future violence. However, today after a 15 year study funded by the MacArthur Foundation, psyc
