Opinions Opinion

The Role of Psychologists in Law Enforcement in Indonesia

By Adam Ilyas

06 Mar 2023 00:00 WIB 06 March 2023 00:00 WIB 5 minutes reading time: 5 minutes 2 read

Updated: 21 Dec 2025 18:08 WIB 21 December 2025 18:08 WIB

Learn about the role of psychologists in law enforcement in Indonesia.

Opinion Note

This opinion article was written by a contributor/columnist. The views expressed are entirely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors.

CONTRIBUTOR PROGRAM

You can become a columnist at Legal Literacy.

Submit your legal opinion/analysis writing. If it is published, you have the opportunity to obtain a payout/honorarium in accordance with the provisions.

Submit Article Read Guidelines

Baca tanpa iklan.

Gabung Membership

This article discusses the role of psychologists in the field of law, especially in Indonesia. Psychologists are considered experts who can provide information about behavior related to problems related to the community, police, prosecutors, judges and other law enforcement officials.

This article describes the four stages of the role of psychologists in law enforcement, namely prevention, handling, sentencing, and execution of decisions. In addition, this article also discusses the four forms of psychologist contributions in court practice. Psychologists are expected to strengthen law enforcement officials in enforcing the law and increasing public awareness to comply with applicable legal provisions.

The Role of Psychologists

Psychologists play a very important role in everyday life, including in the field of law. Psychologists are known as people who are experts in behavior, it is not surprising that they are considered experts who can provide information about behavior related to problems related to the community, police, prosecutors, judges and other law enforcement officials. The role of psychologists in law is divided into two, namely:

Psychologist as a scientist (psychology and law to find out how to identify problems appropriately and psychology of law to assess and understand the character of the perpetrator, prosecutor and judge);
Psychologist as a practitioner (psychology in law) is under law enforcement officials.

The role of psychologists in law enforcement law in Indonesia, namely strengthening law enforcement officials in enforcing the law, for example how the role of psychological intervention in improving police performance. Psychologists also play a role in explaining the psychological conditions of perpetrators, victims and witnesses, this can help law enforcement officials in making appropriate decisions. Psychologists play a role in preventive efforts by increasing public awareness to comply with applicable legal provisions. When viewed from the stages of law enforcement, psychologists play a role in four stages, including prevention, handling, sentencing, and execution of decisions.

To date, there are 4 (four) forms of psychologist contributions in court practice, namely:

As expert witnesses, where psychologists provide expert testimony in court as requested by judges, prosecutors or lawyers;
As expert advisors outside the courtroom for matters related to court in general such as opinions or research results given to the panel of judges, suspects or their representatives, as well as victims or their representatives;
As ad-hoc judges, namely professional psychologists because their expertise is asked to serve as member judges in a panel of judges who try certain cases;
As educators of prospective judges or additional experts to senior judges, which is focused on becoming an awareness course related to the psychological situation of judges when trying cases, the trial process itself and when judges make criminal decisions.