In fact, some argue that specialized legal training dilutes the psychological empiricism of the researcher.
Although formal legal training (such as a JD or Master of Legal Studies degree) can be beneficial, most legal psychologists hold only the PhD.
Legal psychologists typically hold a PhD in some area of psychology (e.g., clinical psychology, social psychology, cognitive psychology, etc.), and apply their knowledge of that field to the law. This could be because in criminal cases, the defendant's mental state almost never mattered "As a general rule, only medical men-that is, persons licensed by law to practice the profession of medicine-can testify as experts on the question of insanity and the propriety of this general limitation is too patent to permit discussion". Psychologists were not considered medical experts, those who were like, physicians and psychiatrists, in the past were the ones consulted for criminal testimonies. Consultation within civil courts was most common, during this time criminal courts rarely consulted with psychologists. It has been thought that in America psychologists have been used as expert witnesses in court testimonies since the early 1920s. His research is still widely considered a prevailing research interest in legal psychology. Cattell's research has been depicted as the foundation of forensic psychology in the United States. However, even Cattell was shocked by the level of incorrectness displayed by his students. Although a jury, or the judge, should know how normal errors are in eyewitness testimonies given different conditions. Cattell suggested that “an unscrupulous attorney” could discredit a witness who is being truthful by asking “cunningly selected questions”. He could not figure out specifically why each student had inaccurate testimonies. His students were all sure they were mostly correct, even when they weren't, and some were hesitant when they were in fact correct. What he found was that it was reasonable to conclude eyewitness accounts of events were unreliable. McKeen Cattell posted questions to fifty-six of his students at Columbia University, the questions he asked his students were comparable to those asked in a court of justice.
Bochs law psychology update#
The Online Jury Research Update (OJRU) regularly summarizes legal psychology research about legal persuasion, jury research and trial advocacy. In addition, research by legal psychologists is regularly published in more general journals that cover both basic and applied research areas. There are several legal psychology journals, including Law and Human Behavior, Psychology, Public Policy and Law, Psychology, Crime, and Law, and Journal of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law that focus on general topics of criminology, and the criminal justice system. For a time, legal psychology researchers were primarily focused on issues related to eyewitness testimony and jury decision-making so much so, that the editor of Law and Human Behavior, the premier legal psychology journal, implored researchers to expand the scope of their research and move on to other areas. Generally speaking, any research that combines psychological principles with legal applications or contexts could be considered legal psychology (although research involving clinical psychology, e.g., mental illness, competency, insanity defense, offender profiling, etc., is typically categorized as forensic psychology, and not legal psychology). There are similar societies in Britain and Europe. Further, its mandate is to inform the psychological and legal communities and the public at large of current research, educational, and service in the area of psychology and law.
The multidisciplinary American Psychological Association's Division 41, the American Psychology-Law Society, is active with the goal of promoting the contributions of psychology to the understanding of law and legal systems through research, as well as providing education to psychologists in legal issues and providing education to legal personnel on psychological issues. Following earlier efforts by psychologists to address legal issues, psychology and law became a field of study in the 1960s as part of an effort to enhance justice, though that originating concern has lessened over time. Together, legal psychology and forensic psychology form the field more generally recognized as "psychology and law".
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