Dr. Jameca CooperForensic Psychology Consultant, Emergence Psychological Services · Board Certified Counseling Psychologist and Forensic Psychology Consultant

Court sees behavior, I explain the trauma behind it #forensicpsychology #racialtrauma #expertwitness

15 May 2026 · 1 min

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1:05

In this brief presentation, forensic psychologist Dr. Jameca Cooper explains the need for a specialized forensic tool—called the Cultural Autopsy—to reveal how systemic racism rewires a client’s nervous system and drives behavior that ends up before a judge or jury. She argues that standard psychological evaluations (diagnoses, ACEs scores) fail to capture the mechanisms of racial trauma. The Cultural Autopsy proceeds layer by layer, examining hypervigilance, cultural mistrust, and other neuropsychological effects to construct a scientifically grounded, admissible narrative for civil rights, employment discrimination, and criminal defense cases. Dr. Cooper invites attorneys to collaborate, emphasizing that a client’s story resides in their nervous system, not just in police reports, and that this method can prevent that history from remaining invisible in court.

Chapters

Let me ask you something. When you have a client whose life has been shaped by racism every single day, how do you make that visible to a judge or jury? Typical psychological evaluations weren't designed for this. They can give you a diagnosis, maybe an ACEs score, but they don't capture the mechanism of how systemic racism actually rewires the brain, shapes behavior, and creates the very actions that the court is judging. That's why I created the Cultural Autopsy. It's a forensic psychological procedure specifically for attorneys litigating cases where race, ethnicity, and discrimination are central. I go layer by layer, from hypervigilance to cultural mistrust, to build a scientifically grounded narrative that explains why your client responded the way they did. This isn't theory, it's science, and it's admissible. If you're handling civil rights litigation, employment discrimination, or criminal defense, where race is a factor, let's talk. Your client's story isn't just in the police report, it's in their nervous system, and I can help you show that. Don't let their history stay invisible. Let's build a case together.