The Injustice of Forensic Psychology: Bias, Junk Science, and the Urgent Need for Reform

Abstract

Forensic psychology is often presented as an objective science, yet its practices can perpetuate systemic injustice through biased risk assessments, adversarial expert testimony, and opaque proprietary tools. This paper argues that these failures reflect broader forms of epistemic injustice that disproportionately harm marginalized groups. Distinguishing between explicit and implicit cognitive bias, the paper examines how confirmation bias, authority bias, and misplaced confidence in expertise shape forensic judgments across investigative and judicial processes. It concludes that forensic psychology requires stronger procedural safeguards, transparency, independent oversight, and empirically grounded bias-mitigation practices to function as a genuinely just discipline.