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Expert opinion analysis

“Degrees of freedom in the psychological assessment of credibility - a systematic analysis of practical procedures”

Project management: Prof. Dr. Aileen Oeberst

The overarching aim of the research project is to systematically analyze the approach of appointed expert witnesses in the context of credibility assessment.

This research objective is derived from the fact that, in accordance with relevant case law and scientific recommendations, the current form of psychological credibility assessment requires an individual case orientation, which in turn requires a large number of so-called degrees of freedom. This means that psychological experts have to make decisions regarding their own approach at many points in the assessment process, as there are no standardized guidelines. This applies, for example, to the question of which data is collected and how it is integrated. The lack of guidelines for these and other key steps in the assessment process jeopardizes the consistency between different assessors and the validity of assessment results.

Despite the knowledge of the large number of degrees of freedom in the psychological credibility assessment and their potential risk to the quality of the expert opinion, there has been no systematic investigation into the approach of psychological experts to date.

As part of the planned project, we would like to address this research gap and systematically investigate for the first time how the diagnostic process is implemented in practice on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of expert reports. By analyzing the diagnostic process in detail, we can gain important information about the extent to which the procedures of individual experts differ from one another.

In order to be able to make qualified statements about the agreement between assessors and the correctness of expert opinion results and thus the quality of credibility expert opinions, we are planning additional experimental studies under standardized conditions on the basis of selected expert opinion cases. The results of the research project will provide a systematic insight into the practice of psychological credibility assessment, which has been lacking to date, and should enable empirically based recommendations on legitimate and quality-assuring procedures. In addition, new impulses for research in the field of testimonial psychology can be derived from our project.

Information on data protection
We process your personal data in compliance with the applicable data protection regulations, in particular the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Brandenburg Data Protection Act (BbgDSG).

Responsible for data processing:
University of Potsdam
represented by the President, Prof. Oliver Günther, Ph.D.
Am Neuen Palais 10 
14469 Potsdam
Telephone: +49 331 977-0
Fax: +49 331-977-1089
www.uni-potsdam.de 

Purpose of the data processing
The purpose of the data processing is to carry out the research project “Degrees of freedom in expert psychological testimony”

The aim of the research project is to systematically analyze the approach of appointed psychological experts in the context of credibility assessment. In particular, the project focuses on the many degrees of freedom available to experts due to the lack of standardization and the predetermined focus on individual cases. This means that they have to make a large number of decisions regarding the specific procedure. However, this is accompanied by a risk to consistency between different experts and therefore also to the validity of the expert opinion results. To date, there has been no systematic investigation into the specific procedures of expert witnesses, so the planned project aims to address this research gap.

Legal basis for data processing
The legal basis for data processing is Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. e GDPR in conjunction with § 25 para. 1 BbgDSG. Insofar as the analyzed psychological reports contain special categories of data (in particular information on mental health, sexual orientation and sexual behavior), the legal basis results from Art. 9 para. 2 lit. j GDPR in conjunction with § 25 para. 1 BbgDSG. § Section 25 (1) BbgDSG. Among other things, the provisions permit the processing of personal data without consent for a specific research project if the public interest in carrying out the research project outweighs the interests of the data subject worthy of protection and the purpose of the research cannot be achieved in any other way. These conditions are met in relation to the research project described above. The research project is in the interest of the state as the prosecuting authority, of the persons concerned and of science: Theoretical and empirical findings raise the question of how reliable the evidence of psychological expert testimony is, which can be used to establish facts in criminal proceedings. The research project examines this question empirically for the first time. The results may contribute to an improvement of psychological expert testimony (e.g. recommendations for experts), which would benefit both the affected expert witnesses and could provide the courts with guidance for the evaluation of expert testimony. The public interest in carrying out the research project therefore outweighs the interests of the persons concerned. The research purpose pursued cannot be achieved in any other way because the file analysis is an indispensable prerequisite for answering the research question. No other method (e.g. interviewing experts) provides an insight into actual expert practice. It is also not possible to use data that has already been anonymized, as public prosecutors' offices and courts do not have the personnel resources to anonymize the expert reports themselves before they are transmitted. The transfer of personal data associated with the inspection of expert reports is not disproportionate to the importance of the research question. 

Type of data
Testimonial psychological reports containing personal or personally identifiable data (personal data, address data, information on the charged offenses and the course of events, information on the ability to testify, possibly information on abilities or personality traits, mental health or sexual orientation and sexual behavior) of all persons concerned (experts, examined witnesses, other persons named in the report) are processed. 

Origin of the data
Expert psychological testimony provided by public prosecutors' offices. The Ministries of Justice of Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia have already signaled their general support for this research project.

Recipients of the data
There is no transfer of personal or personal-related data to third parties.

Duration of data storage
The anonymization of the reports takes place within a maximum of 3 months; the anonymized reports are then stored permanently.

The anonymization is carried out by one of four project participants, all of whom are subject to a confidentiality obligation. The reports are made absolutely anonymous so that it is not possible to re-identify the persons concerned. Each anonymized report is checked again independently by another member of the project team to ensure complete anonymization.

In order to minimize the risks of data processing for the data subjects, a personal mailbox is set up to which the reports are preferably sent by registered mail. Only the research assistant, Matthias Löbe, and Prof. Dr. Aileen Oeberst have access to the mailbox. Upon receipt, envelopes and other information not relevant to the research project will be destroyed using a security level 5 shredder. The non-anonymized reports are stored outside of the processing times in a safe of security class EN 1 according to EN1143-1 within a double-lockable room. Only project staff have access to the safe. The anonymization of the reports is limited to the premises of the project participants at the University of Potsdam (i.e. no processing in the home office). Absolute anonymization is carried out analogously by physically blackening the reports so that no further documents can be destroyed afterwards.

Your rights
You have the right to request information from us about the processing of personal data concerning you. In addition to a copy of the personal data, this right to information also includes details of the purpose of the data processing, data recipients and the storage period.

If incorrect personal data is processed, you can request that we correct this data. If the legal requirements of Art. 17 or 18 GDPR are met, you also have the right to have your personal data erased or to restrict processing. Please note that it may not be possible to restrict the processing of data. You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format or to request that it be transmitted to another controller (Art. 20 GDPR). If data processing is permitted without your consent, you can object to the processing under the conditions of Art. 21 GDPR.

Please contact us to exercise the above rights:
Prof. Dr. Aileen Oeberst, 
Social Psychology
Faculty of Human Sciences
Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24/25
14476 Potsdam
Mail: aileen.oeberst@uni-potsdam.de
Phone: (0331) 977-2877

Alternatively, you can request information from the Chief Information Officer (University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 24-25, 14476 Potsdam). You can find the form for this at: www.uni-potsdam.de/de/praesidialbereich/praesident-vizepraesidenten/cio.html.

If you have any questions about data protection, please contact the data protection officer at the University of Potsdam:
Dr. Marek Kneis
Am Neuen Palais 10
14469 Potsdam
Telephone: +49 331 977-124409
Fax: +49 331 977- 701821
E-mail: datenschutz@uni-potsdam.de

If you believe that the processing of your personal data is not lawful, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority for data protection.