We present to you the new thematic issue of the journal "Psychology and Law" (No. 2-2025), dedicated to current issues in forensic examinations involving psychologists.

In recent years, telephone fraud has become an urgent problem, acquiring the character of a national security threat. The article by F.S. Safuanov and V.V. Shirokova identifies possible forensic psychological and psychiatric expert assessments of the mental and psychological state of telephone fraud victims who act as injured parties, plaintiffs, and defendants. The work by N.V. Dvoryanchikov and D.A. Kolodkina is devoted to the psychological characteristics and victim behavior of those deceived by fraudsters.

A necessary condition for the development of forensic examinations involving psychologists is the clarification of basic expert concepts in various types of examinations. This issue presents an analysis of the concepts of "attachment" and "relationship," which are important for the examination of family relationships (O.F. Savina), the categories of "increased tendency to fantasize" and "increased suggestibility" in the context of evaluating testimony of underage victims in cases of sexual violence (E.V. Vaské, T.N. Sekerazh), and the concepts of "vulnerability" and "vulnerable population groups" in the examination of the capacity to enter into transactions (Yu.O. Perepravina).

A number of studies are devoted to the problems of deviant and delinquent behavior. The value-semantic and individual psychological characteristics of personality as risk factors for deviant behavior were studied (S.V. Shport, A.A. Dubinsky, M.M. Pronicheva, I.A. Rozanov), the motives of men and women who committed murders (I.N. Mosechkin), psychopathy and everyday sadism as predictors of antisocial behavior (Yu.A. Atadzhykova, S.N. Enikolopov, T.P. Milcharek). An analysis of modern domestic and foreign research on the psychological mechanisms of unlawful aggressive behavior is presented in the review by M.V. Zeiger.

The issue also includes studies on the socio-psychological adaptation of women who married foreigners (O.I. Mironova, L.A. Ruonala), and the influence of anxiety levels and stress resistance on polygraph testing results (T.N. Bezzubova, D.M. Kuptsova). The article by N.V. Bogdanovich, V.V. Delibalt, and A.V. Degtyarev contributes to the discussion of the widely debated draft laws on psychological assistance in the psychological community.

Overall, the studies presented in the thematic issue reflect a trend toward expanding the subject field of forensic psychological examination, on the one hand, and unifying the methodology of expert research, on the other.

All articles in the issue can be read free of charge on the portal of psychological publications PsyJournals.ru.