The Discipline “Fundamentals of Personality Psychology” in the System of Professional Training of Forensic Experts

The article analyzes the place, role and structure of the discipline “Fundamentals of Personality Psychology” within the educational program 40.05.03 “Forensic Examination”. Individual aspects of the forensic expert’s activities requiring psychological literacy are considered. In this regard, the concept of psychological competence of a forensic expert and its place in professional competence are studied. The correlation of psychological competence of a forensic expert with the formation of expert conviction and the risks of making expert errors is analyzed. The relationship between psychological literacy and the effectiveness of communication of a forensic expert with both professional participants in legal proceedings (judges, investigators, other experts) and non-professionals (persons under examination – witnesses, victims, suspects, accused) is indicated. The influence of psychological competence of a forensic expert on the assessment of the reliability of his conclusion is traced. Based on the conducted study, an approach to the structure, content and didactics of this discipline is proposed. In particular, it is proposed to include in the topics studied the problems of formation and structure of personality, its needs, motivational and emotional spheres, complex personal characteristics (character, temperament, orientation, etc.), self-awareness and self-development, speech and volitional properties of personality, social maturity and responsibility. A proposal was made to shift the emphasis from the academic component of the fundamentals of personality psychology to the formation of practical skills that can be used by students in the process of obtaining expert education and by forensic experts in the process of carrying out professional activities. The experience of teaching this discipline at the Russian State University of Justice is given. The direction for further research is determined.