Soon new counsellors in the Italian courts: the latest milestone in forensic science

A new interdisciplinary pool of specialists has been set up in Reggio Emilia with the aim of promoting increasingly effective investigation and prosecution activities to improve citizens’ safety. The Italian Academy of Forensic Sciences and I&G Management, Prof. Paul Ekman’s Italian partners, have combined their expertise in an ambitious project that will open up new professional horizons for young Italian graduates.

The Italian Academy of Forensic Sciences is the affiliated institute of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences that operates with higher education programmes enriched by the contribution of universities, institutions and local, national and international organisations involved in the complex ‘justice system’.

I&G Management is the Italian branch of Paul Ekman International, a company that disseminates through an international network the theories and scientific models studied by Prof. Paul Ekman, the psychologist who described the universality of emotions, their manifestation on the face and their relationship with the assessment of credibility.

The partnership between the Italian Academy of Forensic Sciences and I&G Management, and the shared commitment to promote research in the field of data interpretation and the correct use of scientific evidence in and out of court, has come to fruition.

The integration of the competences of the researchers and professionals that make up the pool of specialists has allowed the birth of a new professional figure that possesses a triple training in the legal, psychotherapeutic and psychodiagnostic fields, as well as a meta-competence in the observation and interpretation of communication and behaviour.

This new professional figure embodies a substantial change in the way counselling in the legal and psychodiagnostic fields is conceived. The aim is to standardise the preparation of qualified young people (graduates in psychology, law or medicine) who will work in close continuity with their field of specialisation and in synergy with their colleagues to assess the cases submitted to them by bringing into play diversified skills.

The training on offer includes university masters of first and second level in Legal Psychology, in Criminology, the School of Developmental and Adolescent Psychotherapy with a cognitive-behavioural orientation, as well as highly specialised courses for internationally certified professionals in emotional competence, credibility assessment and coding of facial movement units in accordance with Paul Ekman’s model. This is complemented by specific studies on memory processes, verbal content reliability and interrogation and investigative interview techniques.

The pool of specialists also benefits from constant comparison with prestigious and internationally recognised institutions, such as the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Emotional Intelligence Academy, Paul Ekman Group, Academy of Behavioral Sciences.