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Purpose of laws

Laws are human creations that evolve out of the needs for order and consistency, help resolve conflicts, protect the public, and must be developed and modified as society changes.

Laws as human creations

Laws are created by humans to meet society's needs for order and consistency.

Laws and conflict

Laws help resolve conflicts between one person's impulses and other people's rights.

Relationship between psychology and the law

Psychology and law both focus on human behavior, but psychology studies behavior using scientific methods while law relies on legal rules, precedents, and decisions to resolve disputes and make judgments.

Psychological study of law

A psychological approach to law emphasizes human determinants and uses individuals as the unit of analysis.

B = f(p,e)

Kurt Lewin's equation meaning that behavior is a function of the person and the environment.

Psychology's view of legal behavior

Psychology assumes that characteristics of participants in the legal system affect how the legal system operates, while also recognizing that the law can affect individuals' characteristics and behavior.

Forensic psychology

The application of psychological knowledge to legal questions and disputes; forensic psychologists generate and communicate information to answer specific legal questions or help resolve legal disputes.

Forensic psychologist training

Most forensic psychologists are trained as clinical psychologists, whose specialty involves psychological evaluation and treatment.

Rights of individuals vs. common good

A basic choice in law involving the tension between protecting individual rights and protecting society as a whole.

Due process model

A criminal justice model that emphasizes protecting citizens, including criminal suspects, from possible abuses by police and the legal system, assumes suspects are innocent, and emphasizes individual rights.

Crime control model

A criminal justice model that emphasizes the efficient detection of suspects, effective prosecution of defendants, and apprehension and punishment of lawbreakers.

Equality

The principle that people who commit the same crime should receive the same consequences and that people should be treated equally under the law.

Discretion

The ability of legal system participants, such as police, prosecutors, juries, and judges, to make judgments based on individual circumstances rather than applying identical consequences in every case.

Sentencing disparity

The tendency for judges to administer different penalties for the same crime.

Determinate sentencing

A sentencing approach in which the offense determines the sentence and judges have little discretion.

Implicit bias

The influence of unconscious or unrecognized attitudes on judgments and behavior, including the use of race without awareness.

Truth vs. conflict resolution

A basic choice in which the legal system may prioritize resolving disputes and achieving justice even though determining absolute truth can be difficult.

Procedural justice

The idea that when both sides have the opportunity to be heard, participants are more likely to feel that they were treated fairly and view the legal system as effective.

Plea bargaining

A process focused on resolving conflict rather than determining truth in which a defendant accepts a prosecutor's offer and pleads guilty, usually to a lesser charge.

Purpose of plea bargaining

To resolve criminal cases without the expense and uncertainty of a full trial while allowing defendants to receive some reduction in the penalty.

Therapeutic jurisprudence

An approach involving legal procedures and institutions that facilitate therapeutic ends, such as drug courts that focus on treating an underlying addiction rather than simply punishing an offender.

Science vs. law

A basic choice involving the different ways psychology and law reach conclusions; psychology relies on scientific methods while law relies heavily on precedents and legal rules.

Psychology's scientific method

Psychology seeks to understand an objective world through systematic testing of hypotheses using observation and experimental methodology.

Legal precedent

Previous court decisions that provide guidance for decisions in later cases.

Case law

Law made by judges through their rulings in individual cases.

Stare decisis

The principle of following previous legal decisions in order to maintain stability and consistency in the law.

Law vs. psychology and certainty

Law often deals with absolutes, while psychology generally deals with probabilities.

Law's view of reality

Judges and jurors must decide which of two competing conceptions of the truth is more acceptable when facts conflict.

Psychology's view of reality

Psychologists seek to integrate conflicting findings into one refined view of reality.

Criteria to be an expert witness

An expert witness must possess specialized knowledge about a subject that the average person does not have; expert testimony must also be relevant and, under the Daubert standard, based on reliable and valid science.

Expert witness

A person who possesses specialized knowledge about a subject that the average person does not have.

Expert witness ethical responsibility

Even though expert witnesses are usually hired and paid by one side, they must report all of their conclusions regardless of whether those conclusions favor the side paying them.

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

The 1993 Supreme Court case that established a two-prong test used in federal courts and more than half of the states for determining whether expert testimony should be admitted.

Daubert two-prong test

The trial judge must determine whether expert testimony is relevant and, if relevant, whether it is based on reliable and valid science.

Admissibility of expert testimony

Judges determine whether expert testimony should be allowed by considering whether it is relevant and, under Daubert, whether it is scientifically reliable and valid.

Psychologist as an applied scientist

An applied scientist uses knowledge to solve real-life problems; psychologists may serve as expert witnesses in this role.

Psychologist as a basic scientist

A basic scientist studies a phenomenon to understand it and contribute to scientific knowledge without necessarily seeking to apply the findings.

Psychologist as a policy evaluator

A psychologist who uses methodological skills to evaluate how well an intervention or policy has worked.

Psychologist as a forensic evaluator

A psychologist who evaluates individuals involved in civil or criminal cases, reports findings to judges, and may testify about those findings.

Forensic evaluation examples

A forensic psychologist may evaluate whether someone is competent to stand trial or assess the risk of future criminal behavior.

Psychologist as a consultant

A psychologist who provides specialized assistance to attorneys or other legal professionals, such as through trial consultation.

Five roles of psychologists in the legal system

Basic scientist, applied scientist, policy evaluator, forensic evaluator, and consultant.

Forensic evaluator vs. consultant

A forensic evaluator has a responsibility to provide an appropriate and scientifically supported evaluation, while a litigation consultant does not have the same expectation of impartiality.

Forensic evaluator ethical requirements

Forensic evaluations must have a clear purpose, be conducted by competent individuals, respect appropriate relationships, provide appropriate confidentiality, use accurate and current scientific methods, and be communicated appropriately.

Forensic evaluator sources of referral

Mental health professionals may become forensic evaluators by being court-appointed or by being hired by a party involved in litigation, such as the defense, prosecution, or plaintiff.

Prosecutor's request for forensic assessment

A prosecutor cannot request a forensic mental health assessment unless it is approved by the court.

Consultant in litigation

A psychologist who assists one side of a legal dispute through activities such as scientific jury selection, community attitude surveys, testing demonstrative evidence, helping attorneys seek damage awards, and preparing witnesses.

Trial consultant

A psychologist who provides litigation assistance, including scientific jury selection, community attitude surveys, demonstrative-evidence testing, damage-award guidance, and witness preparation.

Impartiality of trial consultants

Unlike forensic evaluators, trial consultants have no expectation of impartiality.