Psychology and Law
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American Psychology-Law Society
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European Association of Psychology and Law

Course Description
 

This course focuses on applications of psychology to the administration of justice. Drawing from the areas of social, cognitive, developmental, clinical, and neuropsychology, we will look critically at the processes of investigation and trial—both center stage and behind the scenes. The law's informal theories of human behavior will be compared to what psychologists know on the basis of theories and research. A number of controversies will be discussed, including the practice of scientific jury selection; jury nullification, deliberation and decision-making; police interrogations and confessions; use of the polygraph as a lie-detector test; eyewitness identifications and testimony; repressed and recovered memories; the forensic use of hypnosis; child witnesses in sex abuse cases; the death penalty; criminal profiling; the insanity defense; and the role of psychologists as trial consultants and expert witnesses.

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Last updated March, 2005
Copyright © 2005 Saul Kassin, Ph.D. All rights reserved.
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