Law and Psychology

Despina Hadjikyriakou

Pertinent Issues

• Application of scientific psychology and neuroscience research findings when forming legal decisions

• Physical causes of human behavior and the transformative effect of neuroscience findings on law - Field of Neuroethics

• Use of neurophysiological, neuropsychological and psychological techniques to assess mental states and guide legal decisions (assessment of malingering, brain damage, personality profiles, etc) – Evaluating the validity and reliability of these methods

• Educating legal personnel, including judges, on issues of mental health

• High prevalence of mental disorders among criminal offenders, and treatment challenges, including consent to treatment

• Rights of juveniles
• Capital Punishment (United States)

Our Publications

Links

Professional Associations

European Association of Psychology and Law http://www.law.kuleuven.be/eapl/articles.html

American Psychological Association – Division 41 – American Psychology Law Society (Includes information on Graduate Programs in Psychology and Law Graduate Programs) http://www.ap-ls.org/

Books and Journals

Psychology and Law: A Critical Introduction. Book by Andreas Kapardis, University of Cyprus. http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521531610

Div. 41 members use science to develop practical interventions in the criminal justice system http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug06/closer.html

Law and Psychology Review http://www.law.ua.edu/lawpsychology/

Greene, J. & Cohen, J. (2004). For the law, neuroscience changes nothing and everything. The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society,359, 1775-1785 www.csbmb.princeton.edu/~jdgreene/NewGreene-WebPage_files/GreeneCohenPhilTrans-04.pdf

Markkula Center for Applied Ethics - Neuroethics: The Neuroscience Revolution, Ethics, and the Law, by Henry T. Greely. http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/greely/neuroscience_ethics_law.html

Garland, B. & Glimcher, P. (2006). Cognitive Neuroscience and the Law, Current Opinion in Neurobiology,16, 130-134 www.cns.nyu.edu/~glimcher/PUBLICATIONS/abstracts/GarlandGlimcher.pdf

Previous Meetings and Announcements