Psychology and Law

This important book captures contemporary attempts to build bridges between the two very different disciplines of law and psychology and to establish the true nature of the interaction between the two. Including international contributions from lawyers, psychologists, sociologists and criminologists, the book bridges the inherent gap between the practice of law and the profession of psychology at an international level. It throws light on how psychology connects with, inter alia, the courts, prisons, community care, clinics, long-stay hospitals, police investigations and legislative bodies. More recent contributions of social science to legal proceedings are also covered, such as the liability that arises from lack of crime prevention, or the systematic prediction of likely violence by an offender. The book will be essential reading not only for academics and professionals in psychology, the law and related disciplines wishing to understand the broadening base of psychology within the legal process, but also for students trying to form an understanding of the emerging science and the associated career opportunities for this exciting field.

David Canter is Professor of Psychology, University of Huddersfield, UK. He is editor of the International Library of Psychology and the Offender Profiling series, and is one of the leading experts in the field of criminal profiling. Donna Youngs is Research Fellow at the International Centre for Investigative Psychology and Vice-President of the International Academy for Investigative Psychology. Rita Zukauskiene is Professor in the School of Psychology, Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania.

Contents: Foreword; In the kingdom of the blind, David Canter; Contemporary challenges in investigative psychology: revisiting the Canter offender profiling equations, Donna Youngs; Lie detectors and the law: the use of the polygraph in Europe, Ewout H. Meijer and Peter J. van Koppen; Eyewitness research: theory and practice, Amina Memon; Identification in court, Andrew Roberts and David Ormerod; Profiling evidence in the courts, Ian Freckleton; Implications of heterogeneity among individuals with antisocial behaviour, Henrik Andershed and Anna-Karin Andershed; From crime to tort: criminal acts civil liability and the behavioral science, Daniel B. Kennedy and Jason R. Sakis JD; The consequences of prison life: notes on the new psychology of prison effects, Craig Haney; Psychopathy as an important forensic construct: past, present and future, David J. Cooke; Key considerations and problems in assessing risk for violence, Michael R. Davis and James R.P. Ogloff; Computer-assisted violence risk assessment among people with mental disorder, John Monahan; Does the law use even a small proportion of what legal psychology has to offer? Viktoras Justickis; 'They're an illusion to me now': forensic ethics, sanism and pretextuality, Michael L. Perlin; Index.