The Psychology of Criminal Justice / Edition 1

by Geoffrey Stephenson

Overview

The Psychology of Criminal Justice integrates aspects of psychology's contributions to criminology and to socio-legal studies within a single narrative framework. It does this by describing the interpersonal and group dynamics of decision-making at key stages in the processing of accused persons from the time an alleged offence is committed to the moment sentence is passed.

The book bears directly on many current debates concerning the ability of the criminal justice system to deliver reliable verdicts. It recognizes the interdependence of decision makers in the system and addresses questions at an appropriately social-psychological level. The book examines systematically and critically the dynamics of criminal decision-making, the response of victims, the assumptions, attitudes and behavior of police officers, the conduct of court proceedings, the performance of witnesses, the strengths and weaknesses of juries, and the sentencing of magistrates and judges. Discussions of law and morality, the attribution of blame in court and in everyday life, and the achievement of justice in interpersonal and organizational contexts, provide a definitive account of the social psychology of law in the context of criminal justice.

Problems with our adversarial system of justice have led to the establishment of a Royal Commission on Criminal Justice. It is commonplace to seek a scapegoat in the behavior of one or other protagonist in the system - especially the police. It will become clear to readers of this book that breakdowns of the system are a product of persuasive interpersonal and intergroup processes of organization, reaching well beyond the behavior of any one agent.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780631145479
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	04/08/1992
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 5.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Geoffrey M. Stevenson is Professor of Social Psychology and Director of the Institute of Social and Applied Psychology at the University of Kent. He has published extensively in the areas of experimental social psychology, organizational psychology and legal and criminological psychology. He was the first editor of the British Journal of Social Psychology and is a founding editor of the newly established Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements.

List of Figures.

List of Tables.

Introduction.

1. Who is the criminal?.

2. Are Criminals Morally Immature?.

3. Preparedness for Crime.

4. Calculating Criminal Behavior.

5. Criminal-Victim Interaction.

6. Social Psychology of Criminal Liability.

7. Police on Crime.

8. Stories in Court.

9. Testifying in Court.

10. Twelve Available People: How Juries Decide.

11. Punishing the Offender: Sentencing in Practice.

12. Procedure and the Distribution of Criminal Justice.

References.

Index.