Psychology and Law
- LAST REVIEWED: 30 October 2019
- LAST MODIFIED: 30 October 2019
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199828340-0100
- LAST REVIEWED: 30 October 2019
- LAST MODIFIED: 30 October 2019
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199828340-0100
Introduction
The field of psychology and law involves the application of scientific, clinical, and policy aspects of psychology to issues that arise in the legal system. Diverse perspectives are encompassed within psychology and law, including most of the major subdivisions in psychology (e.g., cognitive, developmental, industrial/organizational, and clinical). So, for example, cognitive psychologists may examine the reliability of eyewitness memory; developmental psychologists may assess the impact of maltreatment and abuse on social and cognitive development; industrial/organizational psychologists may investigate how workplace conditions contribute to the incidence of sexual harassment; and clinical forensic psychologists may provide assessment and treatment services to courts and attorneys, law enforcement agencies, or offenders in correctional settings or under court supervision. In each of these instances, psychologists use research and/or treatment protocols relevant to their specialization to address specific questions that emerge in the law. This article is organized around the intersection of those traditional subdivisions of psychology and the law. The field of psychology and law values contributions from professionals in a variety of different settings including university and research organizations, clinical practice, law enforcement agencies, correctional institutions, and other governmental and nonprofit agencies. It also values the contributions of professionals from across the globe, and associations devoted to psychology and law now exist in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Several specialized journals and book series are devoted exclusively to psycholegal matters. Undergraduate courses in psychology and law are increasingly common on college and university campuses. Various training programs prepare graduate and postgraduate students to address mental health issues in a variety of legal settings and to become the next generation of researchers, scholars, and practitioners. The American Board of Forensic Psychology and comparable organizations in other countries credential psychologists who specialize in clinical forensic issues, and an updated set of ethical guidelines has been developed specifically for their use. Psychologists have been involved in appellate court decisions by testifying in hearings and by making their research findings and policy analyses available to judges through amicus briefs submitted to the US Supreme Court and to lower courts.
General Overviews
Psychology and law is a diverse field, drawing on contributions from clinical practitioners, academic researchers in various subfields of psychology and criminal justice, policy analysts, and educators. As such, there have been relatively few attempts—other than the works noted under Textbooks—to bring these varied interests and perspectives together into a comprehensive resource. Cutler 2008 is one exception. A two-volume encyclopedia with four hundred entries, it serves as an invaluable compendium and reference work and would be useful to students, academics, practitioners, lawyers, judges, and the interested general public. More recently, the series Advances in Psychology and Law has brought together a diverse array of scholars to explore new research developments and policy implications, with Miller and Bornstein 2016 being the first volume in the series. Another recent volume, Brewer and Douglass 2019, provides chapters on a wide variety of topics in psychology and law. The modern history of the field is told through the experiences of a small group of clinicians, legal scholars, and psychological scientists whose narratives are compiled in Grisso and Brodsky 2018.
Brewer, N., and A. Douglass, eds. 2019. Psychological science and the law. New York: Guilford.
This volume focuses on the application of psychological science research findings and theories to the criminal justice system. In addition to topics such as eyewitness memory, plea bargaining, and jury decision making addressed in this article, it includes chapters by Charman on cognitive bias in legal decision making, Hope and Gabbert on interviewing witnesses and victims, Zaragoza on false memory, Madon on expert testimony, and Steblay on translating psychological science into policy and practice.
Cutler, B. L., ed. 2008. Encyclopedia of psychology and law. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Encyclopedia entries range from one thousand to three thousand words and are arranged in alphabetical order. Entries are also listed within useful headings such as “Criminal Competencies,” “Education and Professional Development,” “Psychological and Forensic Assessment Instruments,” and “Trial Process.” Each entry lists suggestions for further reading, and both volumes have comprehensive indexes.
Grisso, T., and S. L. Brodsky, eds. 2018. The roots of modern psychology and law: A narrative history. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
This book provides firsthand accounts by scholars and clinicians of their early contributions to the field of psychology and law in the decade following the founding of the American Psychology-Law Society in 1969. The authors are considered by many to be among the founders of the field who charted the course for research and clinical practice for subsequent decades.
Miller, M., and B. H. Bornstein. 2016. Advances in psychology and law. Vol. 1. New York: Springer.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-29406-3
The inaugural volume in the series includes chapters on sex offender policy and prevention, children’s participation in legal proceedings, an evaluation of show ups, the psychology of jury instructions, and structured risk assessment and legal decision making. Subsequent volumes (e.g., Volume 3 [2018]) cover topics such as pretrial publicity effects on jurors and juries, restorative justice, bias in forensic mental health judgements, and research on understanding and appreciation of Miranda warnings.
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Article
- Abnormal Psychology
- Academic Assessment
- Acculturation and Health
- Action Regulation Theory
- Action Research
- Addictive Behavior
- Adolescence
- Adoption, Social, Psychological, and Evolutionary Perspect...
- Adulthood
- Advanced Theory of Mind
- Affective Forecasting
- Affirmative Action
- Ageism
- Ageism at Work
- Aggression
- Allport, Gordon
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- Ambulatory Assessment in Behavioral Science
- Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA)
- Anger
- Animal Behavior
- Animal Learning
- Anxiety Disorders
- Art and Aesthetics, Psychology of
- Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Psychology
- Assessment and Clinical Applications of Individual Differe...
- Attachment in Social and Emotional Development across the ...
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Adults
- Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Childre...
- Attitudes
- Attitudinal Ambivalence
- Attraction in Close Relationships
- Attribution Theory
- Authoritarian Personality
- Autism
- Bayesian Statistical Methods in Psychology
- Behavior Therapy, Rational Emotive
- Behavioral Economics
- Behavioral Genetics
- Belief Perseverance
- Bereavement and Grief
- Biological Psychology
- Birth Order
- Body Image in Men and Women
- Burnout
- Bystander Effect
- Categorical Data Analysis in Psychology
- Childhood and Adolescence, Peer Victimization and Bullying...
- Clark, Mamie Phipps
- Clinical Neuropsychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Cognitive Consistency Theories
- Cognitive Dissonance Theory
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Communication, Nonverbal Cues and
- Comparative Psychology
- Competence to Stand Trial: Restoration Services
- Competency to Stand Trial
- Computational Psychology
- Conflict Management in the Workplace
- Conformity, Compliance, and Obedience
- Consciousness
- Coping Processes
- Correspondence Analysis in Psychology
- Counseling Psychology
- Courage
- Creativity
- Creativity at Work
- Critical Thinking
- Cross-Cultural Psychology
- Cultural Psychology
- Daily Life, Research Methods for Studying
- Data Science Methods for Psychology
- Data Sharing in Psychology
- Death and Dying
- Deceiving and Detecting Deceit
- Defensive Processes
- DEI in Organizations
- Depression
- Depressive Disorders
- Development, Prenatal
- Developmental Psychology (Cognitive)
- Developmental Psychology (Social)
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM...
- Discrimination
- Disgust
- Dissociative Disorders
- Drugs and Behavior
- Eating Disorders
- Ecological Psychology
- Ecopsychology
- Educational Settings, Assessment of Thinking in
- Effect Size
- Embodiment and Embodied Cognition
- Emerging Adulthood
- Emotion
- Emotional Intelligence
- Empathy and Altruism
- Employee Stress and Well-Being
- Environmental Neuroscience and Environmental Psychology
- Ethics in Psychological Practice
- Event Perception
- Evolutionary Psychology
- Expansive Posture
- Experimental Existential Psychology
- Exploratory Data Analysis
- Eyewitness Testimony
- Eysenck, Hans
- Factor Analysis
- Festinger, Leon
- Five-Factor Model of Personality
- Flynn Effect, The
- Forensic Psychology
- Forgiveness
- Friendships, Children's
- Fundamental Attribution Error/Correspondence Bias
- Gambler's Fallacy
- Game Theory and Psychology
- Geropsychology, Clinical
- Global Mental Health
- Habit Formation and Behavior Change
- Happiness
- Health Psychology
- Health Psychology Research and Practice, Measurement in
- Heider, Fritz
- Heuristics and Biases
- History of Psychology
- Human Factors
- Humanistic Psychology
- Humor
- Hypnosis
- Implicit Association Test (IAT)
- Industrial and Organizational Psychology
- Inferential Statistics in Psychology
- Insanity Defense, The
- Intelligence
- Intelligence, Crystallized and Fluid
- Intercultural Psychology
- Intergroup Conflict
- International Classification of Diseases and Related Healt...
- International Psychology
- Interviewing in Forensic Settings
- Intimate Partner Violence, Psychological Perspectives on
- Introversion–Extraversion
- Item Response Theory
- Kurtosis
- Language
- Laughter
- Law, Psychology and
- Lazarus, Richard
- Leadership
- Learned Helplessness
- Learning Theory
- Learning versus Performance
- LGBTQ+ Romantic Relationships
- Lie Detection in a Forensic Context
- Life-Span Development
- Lineups
- Locus of Control
- Loneliness and Health
- Mathematical Psychology
- Meaning in Life
- Mechanisms and Processes of Peer Contagion
- Media Violence, Psychological Perspectives on
- Mediation Analysis
- Meditation
- Memories, Autobiographical
- Memories, Flashbulb
- Memories, Repressed and Recovered
- Memory, False
- Memory, Human
- Memory, Implicit versus Explicit
- Memory in Educational Settings
- Memory, Semantic
- Meta-Analysis
- Metacognition
- Metamemory
- Metaphor, Psychological Perspectives on
- Microaggressions
- Military Psychology
- Mindfulness
- Mindfulness and Education
- Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
- Money, Psychology of
- Moral Conviction
- Moral Development
- Moral Psychology
- Moral Reasoning
- Motivation
- Music
- Narcissism
- Narrative
- Nature versus Nurture Debate in Psychology
- Neuroscience of Associative Learning
- Nonergodicity in Psychology and Neuroscience
- Nonparametric Statistical Analysis in Psychology
- Observational (Non-Randomized) Studies
- Obsessive-Complusive Disorder (OCD)
- Occupational Health Psychology
- Older Workers
- Olfaction, Human
- Operant Conditioning
- Optimism and Pessimism
- Organizational Justice
- Parenting Stress
- Parenting Styles
- Parents' Beliefs about Children
- Path Models
- Peace Psychology
- Perception
- Perception, Person
- Performance Appraisal
- Personality and Health
- Personality Disorders
- Personality Psychology
- Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies: From Car...
- Phenomenological Psychology
- Placebo Effects in Psychology
- Play Behavior
- Positive Psychological Capital (PsyCap)
- Positive Psychology
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Prejudice and Stereotyping
- Pretrial Publicity
- Prisoner's Dilemma
- Problem Solving and Decision Making
- Procrastination
- Prosocial Behavior
- Prosocial Spending and Well-Being
- Protocol Analysis
- Psycholinguistics
- Psychological Literacy
- Psychological Perspectives on Food and Eating
- Psychology, Political
- Psychoneuroimmunology
- Psychophysics, Visual
- Psychotherapy
- Psychotic Disorders
- Publication Bias in Psychology
- Race
- Reasoning, Counterfactual
- Rehabilitation Psychology
- Relationships
- Reliability–Contemporary Psychometric Conceptions
- Religion, Psychology and
- Remote Work
- Replication Initiatives in Psychology
- Research Methods
- Resilience
- Risk Taking
- Role of the Expert Witness in Forensic Psychology, The
- Rumination
- Sample Size Planning for Statistical Power and Accurate Es...
- Savoring
- Schizophrenic Disorders
- School Psychology
- School Psychology, Counseling Services in
- Self, Gender and
- Self, Psychology of the
- Self-Construal
- Self-Control
- Self-Deception
- Self-Determination Theory
- Self-Efficacy
- Self-Esteem
- Self-Monitoring
- Self-Regulation in Educational Settings
- Self-Report Tests, Measures, and Inventories in Clinical P...
- Sensation Seeking
- Sex and Gender
- Sexual Minority Parenting
- Sexual Orientation
- Signal Detection Theory and its Applications
- Simpson's Paradox in Psychology
- Single People
- Single-Case Experimental Designs
- Situational Strength
- Skinner, B.F.
- Sleep and Dreaming
- Small Groups
- Social Class and Social Status
- Social Cognition
- Social Neuroscience
- Social Support
- Social Touch and Massage Therapy Research
- Somatoform Disorders
- Spatial Attention
- Sports Psychology
- Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE): Icon and Controversy
- Stereotype Threat
- Stereotypes
- Stress and Coping, Psychology of
- Student Success in College
- Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis
- Suicide
- Taste, Psychological Perspectives on
- Teaching of Psychology
- Terror Management Theory
- Testing and Assessment
- The Concept of Validity in Psychological Assessment
- The Neuroscience of Emotion Regulation
- The Reasoned Action Approach and the Theories of Reasoned ...
- The Weapon Focus Effect in Eyewitness Memory
- Theory of Mind
- Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioral
- Thinking Skills in Educational Settings
- Time Perception
- Trait Perspective
- Trauma Psychology
- Twin Studies
- Type A Behavior Pattern (Coronary Prone Personality)
- Unconscious Processes
- Video Games and Violent Content
- Virtues and Character Strengths
- Wisdom
- Women and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM...
- Women, Psychology of
- Work Well-Being
- Workforce Training Evaluation
- Wundt, Wilhelm