Psychology and the Legal System (with InfoTrac) - Hardcover

Wrightsman, Lawrence S.; Nietzel, Michael T.; Fortune, William H.; Lawrence S. Wrightsman, Michael T. Nietzel, William H. Fortune

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0534363741 ISBN 13: 9780534363741

Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing, 1998

Synopsis

This engrossing text examines the legal system through the use of psychological concepts, methods, and research results. It seeks to clarify the basic dilemmas that persist in the legal system and looks at the ethical, moral, legal, and psychological "gray areas" of the law, including coverage of such topics as: competence to stand trial, pretrial publicity and resulting changes in venue, criminal profiling, civil case law and civil procedures, the rights of children, capital punishment, the psychology of criminal trials, the insanity defense, expert forensic testimony, and analysis of eyewitness identification and lineup procedures. This thoroughly updated edition balances discussion of the legal system with psychological theory, concepts, and research. This edition includes compelling new coverage of many topics, research issues, and recent trials.

About this title

About the Author:

Lawrence S. Wrightsman (Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 1959) was professor of psychology at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. Wrightsman authored or edited ten other books relevant to the legal system, including Psychology and the Legal System (4th edition, coauthored with Michael T. Nietzel and William H. Fortune), The American Jury on Trial (coauthored with Saul M. Kassin), and Judicial Decision Making: Is Psychology Relevant? He was invited to contribute the entry on the law and psychology for the recently published Encyclopedia of Psychology, sponsored by the American Psychological Association and published by Oxford University Press. His research topics included jury selection procedures, reactions to police interrogations, and the impact of judicial instructions. He also served as a trial consultant and testified as an expert witness. Wrightsman is a former president of both the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues and the Society of Personality and Social Psychology. In 1998 he was the recipient of a Distinguished Career Award from the American Psychology-Law Society. This award has been made on only six occasions in the 30-year history of the organization; the preceding awardee was U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun.

Review:

"Wrightsman, Nietzel, and Fortune is head and shoulders above any other textbook directed at this topic on the market. . . . It is quite comprehensive . . . engaging, and has an excellent list of references."

"Overall, I think that Wrightsman, Nietzel, and Fortune is the best book available for teaching a cross-section of undergraduates about the basics of psychology and law . . . . The text does a good job at bringing psychology students 'up to speed' on the basics of the legal system. One commendable feature of the book is the appropriate integration of real-world examples."

About this edition

• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0534363741
• ISBN 13: 9780534363741
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 590