The Psychology Of Law

As law is instituted by society to serve society, there can be no question that psychology plays an important and inevitable role in the legal process, clarifying or complicating legal issues. In this enlightening text, Roesch, Hart, Ogloff, and the contributors review all the key areas of the use of psychological expertise in civil, criminal, and family law. An impressive selection of academic scholars and legal professionals discusses the contributions that psychology brings to the legal arena. Topics examined in this insightful text include: juries and the current empirical literature witnesses and the validity of reports preventing mistaken convictions in eyewitness identification trials forensic assessment and treatment predicting violence in mentally and personality disordered individuals employment and discrimination new `best interests' standards for children in courts education and training in psychology and law, and ethical and legal contours of forensic psychology. The volume also features a noteworthy appendix on specialty guidelines for forensic psychologists. Psychology and Law collects a range of expert testimony in its thorough examination of the legal process, affording readers a unique survey of contemporary knowledge.

"The Roots of Modern Psychology and Law: A Narrative History reveals how the field of psychology and law developed during the first decade following the founding of the American Psychology-Law Society"--

Much legal research undertaken by psychologists has had a minimal impact upon law and public policy in the United States. This book diagnoses and offers a blueprint for correcting this fundamental problem.

From the initial investigation of a crime to the sentencing of an offender, many everyday practices within the criminal justice system involve complex psychological processes. This volume analyzes the processes involved in such tasks as interviewing witnesses, detecting deception, and eliciting eyewitness reports and identification from adults and children. Factors that influence decision making by jurors and judges are examined as well. Throughout, findings from experimental research are translated into clear recommendations for improving the quality of evidence and the fairness of investigative and legal proceedings. The book also addresses salient methodological questions and identifies key directions for future investigation.

Over 350 entries provide an authoritative & comprehensive A-Z list of topics in psychology and law, including criminal behaviour and treatment, juvenile offenders, eyewitness memory, forensic assessment and diagnosis, and trial processes.

This scholarly text introduces readers to psychological knowledge and theories and then shows their application in a wide variety of court cases and decisions, such as the Tarasoff decision, the Miranda ruling, etc. Providing in-depth information, the authors follow an individual from the time of arrest through the Criminal Justice System until he/she is discharged back into the community and includes discussion of psychology applied to police work, the courts, jury dynamics, rules of evidence, competency, etc. The authors also cover psychological tools, such as hypnosis, voice prints, and lie detectors.

Shari Seidman Diamond Scholars interested in psychology and law are fond of c1aiming origins for psycholegal research that date back four score and three years ago to Hugo von Munsterberg's On the Witness Stand, published in 1908. These early roots can mislead the casual observer about the history of psychology and law. Vigorous and sustained research in the field is a recent phenomenon. It is only 15 years since the first review of psy chology and law appeared in the Annual Review of Psychology (Tapp, 1976). The following year saw the first issue of Law and Human Behavior, the official publication of the American Psychology-Law Society and now the journal of the American Psychological Associ ation's Division of Psychology and Law. Few psychology departments offered even a single course in psychology and law before 1973, while by 1982 1/4 of psychology graduate programs had at least one course, and a number had begun to offer forensic minors and/or joint J. D. / Ph. D. programs (Freeman & Roesch, see Chapter 28). Yet this short period of less than 20 years has seen a dramatic level of activity. Its strengths and weaknesses, excitements and disappointments, are aII captured in the collection of chapters published in this first Handbook of Psychology and Law. In describing what we have learned ab out psychology and law, the works included here also reveal the questions we have yet to answer and thus offer a blueprint for activities in the next 20 years.

In this volume top scholars contribute chapters covering a wide range of topics including jurisprudence, competency, children, forensic risk assessment, eyewitness testimony, jurors and juries, lawsuits, and civil law. Also included is an introductory chapter by the editor. The result is a unique and comprehensive treatment of the issues at the confluence of these disciplines.