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Readers of this book can gain novel insight into the various theoretical perspectives of psychology and law. It is demonstrated that psychology is not simply an applied discipline in the legal area, but that it contains its own concepts and paradigms for basic research. Legal psychology proves to be an independent, interdisciplinary part of psychology. The contributions represent the experience of different nationalities and judicial systems; emphasis is placed throughout on criminal law. Topics considered include: prediction and explanation of criminal behavior; legal thought, attribution, and sentencing; eyewitness testimony; and correctional treatment with clinical and organizational aspects.
List of contents
1 When Law and Psychology Meet.- A Technology for Controlling Behavior.- A Brief History.- Decision-Making Under Uncertainty.- Establishing Facts.- Models of Rationality.- Attribution of Liability.- Effects of Punishment.- Punishment in the Real World.- One Prediction and Explanation of Criminal Behavior: Introduction.- 2 Long Term Prediction of Offending and Other Life Outcomes.- 3 Prediction of Criminal Behavior: Recent Developments in Research and Policy in the United States.- 4 The Prediction of Drunken Driving Offences.- 5 Juvenile Delinquency: Definitions, Character, and Theory.- 6 Situational Effects on the Decisions of Adolescent Offenders to Carry Out Delinquent Acts. Relations to Moral Reasoning, Moral Goals, and Personal Constructs.- 7 Crime Specialisation, Crime Displacement and Rational Choice Theory.- 8 Questioning Convicted Burglars: A Contribution to Crime Prevention.- Two Legal Thought, Attribution, and Sentencing: Introduction.- 9 Algebraic Schemes in Legal Thought and in Everyday Morality.- 10 Decision-Making and the Law: A View from the Grid.- 11 Decision Processes in the Jury Room.- 12 Perseverance in Courtroom Decisions.- 13 Attractiveness and Respectability of the Offender as Factors in the Evaluation of Criminal Cases.- Three Eyewitness Testimony: Introduction.- 14 The Perception of Social Events and Behavior Sequences.- 15 Remembering Social Events and Activities.- 16 Distortions in Eyewitness Memory from Postevent Information.- 17 Collaborative Testimony by Police Officers: A Psycho-legal Issue.- 18 Behavioral Correlates of Statement Credibility: Theories, Paradigms, and Results.- 19 Assessing Credibility of Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse: Polygraph Examinations and Statement Analysis.- 20 Verbal and Visual Processes in Person Identification.- Four Correctional Treatment: Clinical and Organizational Aspects: Introduction.- 21 Evaluation Research on Correctional Treatment in West Germany: A Meta-analysis.- 22 Treatment of Young Remand Prisoners: Problems and Results of a Research Project.- 23 Influencing Juvenile Offenders by Way of Alternative Sanctions in Community Settings.- 24 Relations Between General Attitudes and Personality Traits of Prison Officers and Some Specific Attitudes Towards Prisoners.- 25 Psychology in Prison: Role Assessment and Testing of an Organizational Model.- Author Index.
About the author
Friedrich Lösel ist Professor für Psychologie und Vorstand am Institut für Psychologie und am Sozialwisssenschaftlichen Forschungszentrum der Universtität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
