Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law
- Brian L. Cutler - Coral Coast Group, Inc., University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Canada
The Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law addresses the interface of psychology and law and draws from the related discipline of criminal justice. These two volumes represent an outstanding collection of entries describing a wide array of contemporary and historical psychology and law topics. With more than 400 entries, this comprehensive resource is perfect to fill the substantial gap in the holdings of academic, professional, and personal libraries on this topic.
Key Themes
- Criminal Competencies
- Criminal Responsibility
- Death Penalty
- Education and Professional Development
- Forensic Assessment in Civil and Criminal Cases
- Juvenile Offenders
- Mental Health Law
- Police and Investigative Psychology
- Psychological and Forensic Assessment Instruments
- Psychology of Criminal Behavior
- Sentencing and Incarceration
- Symptoms and Disorders Relevant to Forensic Assessment
- Trial Processes
- Violence Risk Assessment
The Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law allows individual students, scientists, and practitioners to keep abreast of the growing knowledge base outside their individual areas of expertise, making it a must-have resource for any academic library.
This set is edited by Cutler (psychology, Univ. of North Carolina), who
already has to his credit other scholarly works on the growing field of
psychology and the law, including Mistaken Identification: The
Eyewitness, Psychology and the Law. The legal topics addressed here span
the major subdivisions of psychology-i.e., cognitive, developmental,
clinical, biological, and industrial/organizational. The 400 entries are
authored by a score of international contributors, range in length from
one to five pages, and are arranged alphabetically by topic. In the
introduction, readers are encouraged to use the Reader's Guide, which
arranges entries thematically-indeed, many entries appear in multiple
categories of the guide, and aspects of any given topic can range across
the two volumes. For example, the "Death Penalty" entry does not include
the same information found in the "Racial Bias and the Death Penalty"
entry. The text offers the occasional unnecessary observation, such as
the first sentence in the "Sex Offender Community Notification (Megan's
Laws)" entry: "Sexual assault is a serious problem of great concern."
Well, yes, absolutely, but we don't need this encyclopedia to tell us
that. BOTTOM LINE There is no other reference work on psychology and the
law, so libraries supporting curricula in this area may consider
purchasing. But because this field of study is still in its infancy, and
it remains to be seen whether it will grow into something major, this
set is otherwise an optional purchase for most libraries.
—Katherine Mossman, Everett P.L., WA
