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 research and practice at the interface of psychology and law. It surveys the traditional subdisciplines of psychology: cognitive; developmental; social; clinical; biological; and industrial-organizational psychology.
Published as two volumes and consisting of approximately 350 to 400 entries (1,000 printed pages), the Encyclopedia provides an authoritative and comprehensive A-to-Z list of topics in psychology and law of interest to students, scientists and practitioners. Entries vary in length from 1,000 to 3,000 words, are written in clear and concise language, and are designed to inform without overwhelming the reader.
Entries are organized with the use of a reader's guide, which will contain such categories as criminal behavior and Treatment, juvenile offenders, eyewitness memory, forensic assessment and diagnosis, and trial processes.
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
