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.

Written by authors with extensive experience in the field and in the classroom, Psychology and Law: Research and Practice, Second Edition, offers the definitive perspective on the practical application of psychological research to the law. Curt R. Bartol and Anne M. Bartol emphasize the various roles psychologists and other mental health professionals play in criminal and civil legal matters. Topics such as family law, mental health evaluations, police interrogation, jury selection and decision making, involuntary civil commitment, and various civil capacities are included. The authors also emphasize the major contributions psychological research has made to the law and encourage critical analysis through examples of court cases, high-profile current events, and research. This comprehensive book examines complex material in detail and explains it in an easy-to-read way. New to the Second Edition: The new edition has been significantly reorganized to more closely align with the progression through the court system. A new chapter on children, adolescents, and criminal law (Chapter 8) provides you with information on adjudicative competence, comprehension of constitutional rights, and eyewitness identification and courtroom testimony. New feature boxes include case studies, research projects, and contemporary topics with discussion questions for classroom debate. Additional court cases and statutes have been integrated into chapters to emphasize the important role psychology plays in the legal process. The content is applied to real cases such as the Masterpiece Cakeshop case and the Dassey confession (comprehending Miranda). Over 300 recent research findings on topics related to psychology and law highlight cutting-edge research studies that help you understand what research does and prompt you to discuss the methodology and results. New pedagogical tables clearly illustrate complex information around ethical issues, APA amicus briefs, strengths and weaknesses of simulation studies, insanity standards within the states, effects experienced by survivors of traumatic incidents, and more. Increased coverage of contemporary issues encourage critical thinking and active learning by promoting discussions around current issues such as telepsychology, neuropsychology, adversarial allegiance, and actuarial instruments used in bail and sentence decision-making. ?

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.

Psychology's formal interaction with law began early in the twentieth century, though little in the way of substantive scholarly and professional development occurred until several decades later. The emergence of psychology and law as a modern field of scholarship was marked by the founding of the American Psychology-Law Society (AP-LS) in 1969, now approaching its 50th anniversary. The scientific foundation upon which the modern field now rests was established by a small group of psychological researchers, legal scholars, and clinicians. The Roots of Modern Psychology and Law: A Narrative History reveals how the field developed during the first decade following the founding of the American Psychology-Law Society. The contributors to this edited volume, widely considered to be among the "founders" of the field, were responsible for establishing and nurturing many of the subfields and topics in psychology and law or forensic psychology that flourished across the next fifty years. In each chapter, these leaders explain in narrative form how and why the field and the Society developed in its early years through the recounting of key professional events in their careers during the 1970s. In some cases this was their first major research study using psychology applied to legal issues. In others it was their development of seminal ideas or organizational innovations that had a later impact on the field's development. The volume chronicles how an emerging AP-LS and field of psychology and law were shaped by these psychologists, and how their own initial work was, in turn, shaped by the organization.

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.

This first volume of an exciting annual series presents important new developments in the psychology behind issues in the law and its applications. Psychological theory is used to explore why many current legal policies and procedures can be ineffective or counterproductive, with special emphasis on new findings on how witnesses, jurors, and suspects may be influenced, sometimes leading to injustice. Expert scholars make recommendations for improvements, suggesting both future directions for research inquiries on topics and needed policy changes. Topics included in this initial offering have rarely been considered in such an in-depth fashion or are in need of serious re-thinking: Interrogation of minority suspects: pathways to true and false confessions. A comprehensive evaluation of showups. The weapon focus effect for person identifications and descriptions. The psychology of criminal jury instructions. Structured risk assessment and legal decision making. Children’s participation in legal proceedings: stress, coping, and consequences. Sex offender policy and prevention. The psychology of tort law. Demonstrating the scope and rigor that will characterize the series, Volume 1 of Advances in Psychology and Law will interest psychology and legal experts as well as practicing psychologists, and will inspire fresh thinking as the two fields continue to interact.

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.