Publisher's Synopsis
Stephenson examines the contribution that psychologists have made to our understanding and evaluation of legal processes, particularly the criminal justice system.;The book begins by exasmining criminological and psycho-legal traditions of research, including a discussion of the personal and moral qualities of law-breakers, the factors determining the preparedness of people to commit crimes, and the circumstances leading to particular criminal decisions. He goes on to look at the role of the victim in criminal acts and discusses social psychological issues in the attribution of blame and criminal liability. This leads to a detailed consideration of police performance in general and a discussion of the dynamics of interrogation and confession in particular.;The book also considers what happens to suspected criminals in court, examining issues as the factors determining the performance of witnesses oncluding that of children, jury performance, and the sentencing practice of judges. The book concludes with an overview of the social ;sychology of procedural and distributive criminal justice.
