Perspectives in Law & Psychology

Analyzing the findings of 20 studies, involving more than 5,000 people, this book explores the decision making process of the crime victim in the immediate aftermath of victimization. Using a broad range of innovative research techniques, the authors assess the effects of rape, robbery, burglary, and theft on individuals from diverse nationalities and ethnic backgrounds. This work will be of value to people who work directly with crime victims, and to researchers who are interested in the process of decision making under stressful circumstances.

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.