Applying Psychology To Criminal Justice

Few things should go together better than psychology and law - and few things are getting together less successfully. Edited by four psychologists and a lawyer, and drawing on contributions from Europe, the USA and Australia, Applying Psychology to Criminal Justice argues that psychology should be applied more widely within the criminal justice system. Contributors develop the case for successfully applying psychology to justice by providing a rich range of applicable examples for development now and in the future. Readers are encouraged to challenge the limited ambition and imagination of psychology and law by examining how insights in areas such as offender cognition and decision-making under pressure might inform future investigation and analysis.

This book illustrates the wide variety of applications of psychology to the criminal and civil justice system. Illustrates the wide variety of applications of psychology to the criminal and civil justice system. Gives examples of how forensic psychology can benefit not only from clinical and criminological approaches, but also from the insights of occupational, cognitive, developmental and social psychology. Many of the chapters introduce readers to areas which have not received extensive coverage elsewhere. Includes new directions in forensic practice. Chapters draw out the implications for professionals working in the field. Contributors include both academics and practitioners. Reflects both the scope and the potential of forensic psychology.

This is one of a series of books aimed at A level and first-year undergraduate students. The book aims to provide an introduction to criminological psychology. It assumes no prior psychological knowledge and firmly places psychology in the real-life context of crime. Its approach is to look at different aspects of crime and violence and to relate them back to psychological theory. Topics include theories of crime and violence, serial murder and rape, violence in the media and in the family, treatment of offenders and eyewitness testimonies. This series has been developed for the Oxford and Cambridge A level syllabus, but is also suitable for AEB and NEAB Psychology A level. The series also aims to provide an important resource for undergraduate studies. The main aim is to introduce students to the discipline of psychology and to the ways in which psychological theory and research can be applied to everyday life.

Applied Criminal Psychology provides the reader with a comprehensive and practical guide to psychological research and techniques. It is introductory and wide-ranging and covers important forensic aspects of psychology, psychiatry, and behavioral sciences. Many key forensic issues are covered, including personality disorders, risk assessment, the forensic psychologist as an expert witness, detecting deception, eyewitness memory, cognitive interviewing, forensic hypnosis, false confessions, criminal profiling, and crisis negotiation. With this new edition and starting with the first two chapters, significant focus has been placed upon Psychopathy and the closely associated DSM category of Anti-Social Personality Disorder. Another new chapter has also been included dedicated to the principles of law associated with an accused person's mental status. The book is international and interdisciplinary in its scope and focus. Many of the contributors to this book are well known scholars and/or practitioners. It will be of great interest to psychologists, psychiatrists, criminologists, legal professionals, law enforcement personnel and students who are planning careers in forensic psychology, criminology, and policing.

Psychological theory and research have much to contribute to the knowledge and skill bases underlying effective policing. Much of the relevant information, however, is dispersed across a variety of different psychological and criminal justice/policing journals and seldom integrated for those applied psychologists interested in policing issues or for police policymakers/administrators and others working in the criminal justice area who are not familiar with the psychological literature. Designed to accommodate the needs of these different groups, this book addresses both operational policing issues and issues relevant to the improvement of organizational functioning by providing integrative reviews of psychological theory and research that deal with effective policing. It illustrates how the theory and research reviewed are relevant to specific policing practices. These include eyewitness testimony, conflict resolution, changing driver behavior, controlling criminal behavior, effective interviewing, and techniques of face reconstruction. The volume's readable style makes it accessible to a diverse audience including undergraduate and postgraduate students in forensic/organizational/applied psychology, criminal justice, and police science programs, and police administrators and policymakers. It will also interest psychologists whose primary focus includes policing and criminal justice issues. The book should draw attention to the often unrecognized and valuable contribution that mainstream psychology can make to the knowledge base underpinning a wide variety of policing practices.

This book is a broad introduction to the field of forensic psychology. While students most often associate forensic psychology with criminal profiling, crime-scene investigations, and serial murder, this text covers the many other areas where psychology has played a significant role in providing research knowledge to the civil and criminal justice systems. The book is a readable summary of contemporary research and practice across a broad spectrum of topics. Practical applications are discussed where pertinent, and case law discussions are found throughout the text. This book is designed for undergraduate and graduate students studying forensic psychology in psychology, criminal justice, and criminology courses. This book will also be of interest to mental health professionals and anyone looking for a basic overview of the field. New to the Third Edition: - more real-life cases, new guest essays, and 2-3 new photos per chapter involve students in the 'human side' of forensic psychology - new information on timely topics - such as relationships between mental disorders and crime and violence, sexual deviance, death penalty mitigation, restorative justice initiatives, arson and typologies of juvenille offenders, sexual harassment, and criminal sentencing - new focus boxes cover drug courts, doctoral programs in forensic psychology, the 'choking game', the Innocence Project, bias crime, and many others - a greater emphasis on clinical psychology throughout - thoroughly revised coverage of police psychology - substantially re-organized material on profiling - revised and expanded lecturer resources and student study site Key Features of the Third Edition: - broad coverage makes the text ideal for undergraduate and postgraduate students of both criminology and psychology - exposes readers to the many careers related to forensic psychology - concentrates on the application side of the field, focusing on research-based forensic practice to emphasize the use of psychological knowledge, concepts, and principles - emphasises the multicultural perspective that is an integral part of the day-to-day work of all practicing and research psychologists - in-text learning aids include chapter-opening learning objectives, chapter-ending review questions, chapter summaries, and a glossary of key terms.

The criminal justice process is unavoidably human. Police detectives, witnesses, suspects, and victims shape the course of investigations, while prosecutors, defense attorneys, jurors, and judges affect the outcome of adjudication. In this sweeping review of psychological research, Dan Simon shows how flawed investigations can produce erroneous evidence and why well-meaning juries send innocent people to prison and set the guilty free. The investigator’s task is genuinely difficult and prone to bias. This often leads investigators to draw faulty conclusions, assess suspects’ truthfulness incorrectly, and conduct coercive interrogations that can lead to false confessions. Eyewitnesses’ identification of perpetrators and detailed recollections of criminal events rely on cognitive processes that are often mistaken and can easily be skewed by the investigative procedures used. In the courtroom, jurors and judges are ill-equipped to assess the accuracy of testimony, especially in the face of the heavy-handed rhetoric and strong emotions that crimes arouse. Simon offers an array of feasible ways to improve the accuracy of criminal investigations and trials. While the limitations of human cognition will always be an obstacle, these reforms can enhance the criminal justice system’s ability to decide correctly whom to release and whom to punish.