Psychology, Law, and Criminal Justice PDF

Psychology, Law, and Criminal Justice Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab Vision...

Psychology, Law, and Criminal Justice Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab Vision Research Education Training Expert witness case work (courts, police, child protection) Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab Research Reliability of statements Interrogation and interviewing Trauma and testimony Cognitive biases Legal decision-making Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab Legal Psychology/Psychology Behavioral phenomena important for the and Law courtroom Reliability of testimony Lying/deception detection Professionals (e.g., police, judges, lawyers) Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab Legal Psychology/Psychology and Law How is evidence (e.g., statements) interpreted? Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab Legal Psychology Psychology Law Scientific method A priori method (logic, (experiments) reasoning) Prospective Retrospective Nomothetic (general Idiographic (specific case) principles) Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab  Legal psychology vs. Forensic psychology Legal Psychology Forensic psychology Based on Based on clinical experimental/cognitive psychology: e.g., psychology: e.g., memory psychopathy Empirical and field Empirical and field research research Examples: Memory, Examples: Personality, Eyewitness identification, PTSD, recidivism, lie detection treatment Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab  Timely topic Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab Steve Titus 12 October, 1980 Nancy was raped She identified Steve during a (suggestive) line-up Steve was convicted Edward Lee King was the rapist Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab Experimental research Independent variable: manipulated variable (e.g., sleep deprived or not) Dependent variable: measured variable (false confession) Different designs: between vs. within (mixed) Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab Between-subjects design Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab Within-subjects design Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab  Paul Ingram  Case on recovered memories  Fall 1988  Ericka and Julie (22 and 18 years old)  Recovered memories of satanic abuse Dr. Henry Otgaar, Forensic Psychology section, Maastricht University Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab  Paul Ingram  Ingram family was member of Pentecostal church that promoted that Satan can control minds  Paul Ingram was interrogated and thought he repressed these memories  “Recovered” the memories (through pressure)  Memories of satanic rituals (e.g., slaughter of 25 babies) Dr. Henry Otgaar, Forensic Psychology section, Maastricht University Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab  Paul Ingram  Psychologist Ofshe: memories are false  Suggested to Paul Ingram that he forced his kids to have incest with each other  Paul provided a full (false) account Dr. Henry Otgaar, Forensic Psychology section, Maastricht University Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab  Central Park Joggers Case  April 19, 1989  Trisha Meili  Rape Dr. Henry Otgaar, Forensic Psychology section, Maastricht University Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab  Central Park Joggers case  5 young men  Confession  5-15 years imprisonment  Acquitted because of DNA evidence Dr. Henry Otgaar, Forensic Psychology section, Maastricht University Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab  Central Park Joggers case  Matias Reyes  Confessed in 2002  DNA evidence proved his guilt Dr. Henry Otgaar, Forensic Psychology section, Maastricht University Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab History of psychology and law There is not 1 clear line of history of psychology and law Reason is because the history overlaps with other related fields such as forensic psychology Incomplete overview of several “keyplayers” Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab History of psychology and law Often started as the “Psychology of Testimony” Already in the 5e century before Christ, the Greece historician Thucydides stated: ”coincidence between accounts of the same occurrences by different eyewitnesses, arising sometimes from imperfect memory, sometimes from undue partiality for one side or the other” (Levine & Tapp, 1973, p. I088) Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab History of psychology and law Austrian legal professional Hans Gross’ book (KriminalPsychologie) in 1889 was mainly about the psychology of eyewitness testimony American psychologist Münsterberg (1908)’s book ”On the Witness Stand” is often viewed as the most important book on psychology and law (and applied psychology) Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab History of psychology and law Written work of Münsterberg was not undisputed (e.g., he wrote that women were not equipped to be jury members) German psychologist Stern introduced in 1901 the “Psychologie der Aussage” (statements, suggestibility, memory) Introduced as one of the first the drama experiment/reality experiment (staged event) Such experiments were also performed by the German criminologist van Listzt (1902) Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab History of psychology and law Stern’s work was often experimental and is still relevant: ”The children (juveniles) should be questioned, if at all possible, only once, in an anxiety-free atmosphere, as soon as possible after the experience in question, and only by a particularly apt personality’. (Stern, 1910, reprinted in Stern, 1926, pp. 10).” The French psychologist Binet (1900) wrote La Suggestibilité that was linked to the work of Stern Psychologists such as Stern were Jewish and for them it was challenging to teach during the war Long silence in the area of psychology and law (started again in 1970/1980) Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab History of psychology and law The early work on eyewitness testimony concerned the discovery of “truth” Sporer (2008) and Experimental Legal Psychology Criminological Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab History of psychology and law American psychologist Hans Toch was the editor of one of the review books entitled ”Legal and Criminal Psychology” (1961) British psychologist Eysenck was one of the first who wrote on Crime and Personality (1964/1979) The psychiatrist Cleckley (1941/1964) was one of the first who wrote on psychopathy (Robert Hare is now one of the important names in this area) Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab History of psychology and law Belgium and the Netherlands play an important role as well Belgian psychologist Varendonck already stated in 1911 that children are susceptible to suggestion Van Geuns defended in 1914 in Amsterdam which factors such as drugs can affect testimonies Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab History of psychology and law From the 1970s, interest in the fallibility of eyewitness testimony Pioneering work by Elizabeth Loftus From the 1990s; debate on trauma and memory Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab  Practice question The Central Park Joggers case was an example of? 1. False memory 2. False Confession 3. Deceitful confession 4. True Confession Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab  Practice question The project Voordeel van de Twijfel investigates: 1. Allegations 2. True convictions 3. wrongful convictions 4. Eyewitness identification Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab  Practice questions Prof. Howe conducts research on false memories. He wants to see if people develop more false memories when they sleep poorly. He allows a group of test subjects to stay awake for a long time and another group is allowed to sleep normally. After that, everyone is given a task that measures pseudo-memories. What kind of research method does he use? 1. Between-subjects 2. Within-subjects 3. Single case study 4. Mix of 1 and 2. Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab  Practice question Forensic psychology is also concerned with 1. clinical psychology 2. social psychology 3. neuroscience 4. organizational psychology Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab  [email protected] Twitter: @HenryOtgaar Criminological and Experimental Legal Psychology Prof. Dr. Henry Otgaar Lab