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Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law
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Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law

Two Volume Set
Edited by:
  • Brian L. Cutler - Coral Coast Group, Inc., University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Canada


March 2008 | 1 008 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
The interdisciplinary field of psychology and law appeals to students, psychological scientists, psychologist practitioners, and members of the legal and public policy professions, such as lawyers, judges, lawmakers, and other administrators of justice. This young field of research and practice is noted for its intellectual diversity, as it draws on all of the traditional sub-disciplines of psychology and on various domains of law, legal practice, and public policy. Although this diversity is in many respects a very desirable feature, it creates many challenges as well. In particular, the breadth of research and practice contributes to a dearth of comprehensive reference sources and makes it difficult for individual students, scientists, and practitioners to keep current with the growing knowledge base outside of their individual areas of expertise.

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

Katherine Mossman
Library Journal
Library Journal

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ISBN: 9781412951890
£380.00

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