Helinä Häkkänen

Legal and criminal psychology · since 2000

Legal and criminal psychology

I have worked in legal and criminal psychology since 2000.

Violence

Violence is not always physical, and it does not always leave visible marks. Through research and client work I know the different forms of violence and how the perpetrator’s personality affects the person on the receiving end. The mobile app I developed, Narsismista toipuminen (Recovering from Narcissism), is designed especially for the self-help needs of people who have experienced violence (www.narsismistatoipuminen.fi, in Finnish).

Physical violence

I have studied homicide and other serious violence for more than 25 years. I have published dozens of peer-reviewed articles and non-fiction books on these subjects and trained authorities and organisations. People who have experienced violence are one of the largest client groups in my psychotherapy practice.

Emotional violence

Control, belittling, threats, isolation and stalking are serious violence, and I have worked extensively on them, including helping to bring an anti-stalking law to Finland. On social media I help people recognise these phenomena and describe them so that they become visible and recognisable.

TikTok · Instagram

Financial violence

Money and property can be used as instruments of power: controlling another person’s spending, driving them into debt or exploiting them financially. Financial violence in families and family businesses is the subject of the non-fiction book I am currently writing.

Personality disorder

Behind a person who uses violence there is often a personality disorder. I have described this in my non-fiction books and in my public advocacy work. Many of my clients have told me that understanding the perpetrator’s mind as part of psychotherapy has helped them recover.

Experience

  1. 2002–2026Expert witness and expert opinion provider in court dozens of times, including a war crimes trial, violent crime cases and civil disputes, called by the prosecution, the defence and the court. Numerous training sessions for courts, NGOs, the Finnish Lawyers’ Association, the National Prosecution Authority and security-sector organisations, among others. Many expert memberships, including on the editorial boards of scientific journals and in associations. Supervision of some 25 master’s theses and two doctoral dissertations at the University of Helsinki.
  2. 2019 and 2013Expert hearings, Legal Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament: reform of the child custody law and anti-stalking legislation.
  3. 2014Specialist Psychologist in Legal Psychology, Åbo Akademi University.
  4. 2012Adjunct Professor of Legal Psychology, University of Eastern Finland.
  5. 2006–2011Accredited witness, International Criminal Court (ICC).
  6. 2004Adjunct Professor of Criminal Psychology, University of Helsinki.
  7. 2002–2011Academy Research Fellow and Senior Researcher, National Bureau of Investigation. Joint projects with police and prosecution authorities in several countries, including the USA, the UK, Sweden, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Belgium and South Africa.
  8. 2000–2002Researcher, Police University College. Work as a legal and criminal psychologist begins: consulting for the police.

Expert witness

War crimes and expert testimony

I have served in court as an expert witness in a war crimes trial, where I assessed witness testimony from a legal psychologist’s point of view. I was an accredited witness of the International Criminal Court (ICC) from 2006 to 2011. My international article on the evaluation of traumatic memory in war crimes trials is under review.

This work also shapes how I help victims of crime. I know how a court assesses an account and why a traumatised person does not always remember or describe events consistently.

Publications

  • Häkkänen, H. (under review, 2026). Expert Psychological Evidence and the Evaluation of Traumatic Memory in War Crimes Trials.
  • Häkkänen, H. (2024). Serving as an Expert Witness in Court: A Legal Psychologist’s Opinion on the Assessment of Testimonial Evidence in a War Crimes Trial. Part II. [in Finnish] Defensor Legis 1/2024. Finnish Bar Association.
  • Häkkänen, H. (2023). Serving as an Expert Witness in Court: A Legal Psychologist’s Opinion on the Assessment of Testimonial Evidence in a War Crimes Trial. Part I. [in Finnish] Defensor Legis 4/2023. Finnish Bar Association.