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"--

Praise for Forensic Psychology and Law "In Forensic Psychology and Law, three internationally known experts provide exceptional coverage of a wide array of topics that address both the clinical applications of forensic psychology and the role of psychological science in understanding and evaluating legal assumptions and processes." —Norman Poythress, PhD, Research Director and Professor, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, Dept. of Mental Health Law and Policy "Forensic Psychology and Law is a major contribution to the teaching of law and psychology. Roesch, Zapf, and Hart offer a timely, comprehensive, and succinct overview of the field that will offer widespread appeal to those interested in this vibrant and growing area. Outstanding." —Kirk Heilbrun, PhD, Professor and Head, Department of Psychology, Drexel University "In this volume, three noted experts have managed to capture the basic elements of forensic psychology. It is clearly written, well organized, and provides real world examples to hold the interest of any reader. While clarifying complex issues, the authors also present a very balanced discussion of a number of the most hotly debated topics." —Mary Alice Conroy, PhD, ABPP, Psychological Services Center, Sam Houston State University A Comprehensive, Up-to-Date Discussion of the Interface Between Forensic Psychology and Law Forensic Psychology and Law covers the latest theory, research, and practice in the field and provides thought-provoking discussion of topics with chapters on: Forensic assessment in criminal and civil domains Eyewitness identification Police investigations, interrogations, and confessions Correctional psychology Psychology, law, and public policy Ethics and professional issues

Offering carefully curated articles from the European Association of Psychology and Law (EAPL), this book features chapters from a truly international group of scholars. This text is the first of its kind to offer insights into current developments in psychology and law in Russia. The field of psychology and law has a very long and strong tradition in Russia, but very little is known, as Russian scholars rarely publish their works in English. The volume also contains state-of-the-art chapters on topics at the very core of psychology and law, including offender profiling, lie detection, crime linking, false memories, and witness interviewing. Features Provides rare insight into Russian history of forensic and criminal psychology Covers core topics in the discipline Offers international scope from a diverse array of contributors ? Psychology and Law in Europe: When West Meets East is a text of interest for students of psychology, law, or criminal justice, as well as scholars and practitioners in the field. This text offers a window into global advances in psychology and law.

FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY Complete introduction to forensic psychology and understanding psychology’s expanding influence on the study of law, crime, and criminality Highlighting the often-sizable gap between media myths surrounding forensic practice and reality, Forensic Psychology presents a broad range of topics within the field, including detailed treatments of the causes of crime, investigative methods, the trial process, and interventions with different types of offenders and offenses. To aid in reader comprehension, this Fourth Edition is supplemented with additional online resource materials, including related links, multiple choice questions, and PowerPoint slides. Authored by a wide range of experienced forensic psychology professionals and drawing on a wealth of experience from leading researchers and practitioners, Forensic Psychology includes information on: Psychological approaches to understanding crime and developmental and psychological theories of offending Contributions of neuroscience in understanding risk factors for offending and effects of interpersonal crime on victims Eyewitness evidence, psychopathy, interviewing witnesses and suspects, detecting deception, and offender profiling and crime linkage Interpersonal violence and stalking, judicial processes, safeguarding vulnerable witnesses, criminal responsibilities, and the role of the expert witness Rehabilitation of offenders, risk assessment, treating dangerous offenders, and interventions with female offenders and offenders with intellectual disabilities With comprehensive coverage of the subject and its many important intricacies, the Fourth Edition of Forensic Psychology is essential reading for undergraduates’ first encounter with the subject area and is also an excellent introduction for more specialized postgraduate courses.

Criminal psychology, and its relationship to the practice of law, has become a topic of major significance over the last three decades. Psychologists play a key role in modern criminal investigation and are central to crime reduction measures such as offender profiling, delinquency prevention and tackling fear of crime. Contributors from North America, Europe and Australia examine this link, both adding to and drawing upon the pool of recent theory construction and empirical work in the following areas: * causes and prevention of offending * studies of crime and offenders * the victim's perspective * witnesses and testimony * studies of legal processes. These issues are studied from a 'local' perspective that recognises not only the need for cross-national comparative research, but also the generation of a corpus of scientific knowledge more representative of the complexity of criminal and legal investigation today.

Criminal psychology is the application of the principles of normal and abnormal psychology to the understanding, prediction, and control of criminal behavior. Criminal Psychology: Nature, Nurture, Culture provides an in-depth yet readable introduction to the foundations of criminal psychology as it is understood and practiced from the classroom to the courtroom. The book is organized into five sections. Part I examines the nature and origins of criminal behavior. These chapters outline the role of psychology in the criminal justice system, and review the biology, psychology, and sociology of crime to develop a naturalistic model of criminal behavior that can guide theory and practice in law enforcement, criminal justice, and forensic evaluation. Part II examines the major classes of mental disorder that may be associated with criminal behavior, including psychotic disorders, mood disorders, organic brain syndromes, substance abuse, and personality disorders. Each chapter consists of a description of the syndrome, followed by applications to law enforcement, criminal justice, and forensic mental health issues of competency, sanity, and criminal culpability. Part III deals with death. Topics include homicide, serial murder, mass homicide, workplace and school violence, and terrorism. Part IV covers sexual offenses and crimes within the family, including rape and sexual assault, sex crimes against children, child battery, domestic violence, and family homicide. Part V discusses the psychological dynamics of a variety of common crimes, such as stalking and harassment, theft and robbery, gang violence, organized crime, arson, hate crimes, victimology, the psychology of corrections, and the death penalty. Each chapter contains explanatory tables and sidebars that illustrate the chapter’s main topic with examples from real-life cases and the media, and explore controversies surrounding particular issues in criminal psychology, such as criminal profiling, sexual predator laws, dealing with children who kill, psychotherapy with incarcerated offenders, and the use of “designer defenses” in court. Grounded in thorough scholarship and written in a crisp, engaging style, this volume is the definitive handbook and reference source for forensic psychologists, mental health practitioners, attorneys, judges, law enforcement professionals, and military personnel. It will also serve as an authoritative core text for courses in forensic psychology, criminology, and criminal justice practice.

This book it is a comprehensive guide, aimed at professionals, that starts with the interview of the victim of the crime, moving through the interviewing of suspects, to the decision to prosecute and enhancing the quality of evidence presented in court. Other topics discussed include: false allegations, false confessions, offender profiling and victim support. Throughout, the theme of the book is that the chain of events leading to the successful investigation and prosecution of offences is only as strong as the weakest link, and should be considered as a coherent whole.

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.