052182530X cambridge university press psychology and law a critical introduction mar 2003

This page intentionally left blank Psychology and Law A Critical Introduction Psychology and Law provides a comprehensive, up-to-date discussion of contemporary debates at the interface between psychology and criminal law The topics surveyed include critiques of eyewitness testimony; the jury; sentencing as a human process; the psychologist as expert witness; persuasion in the courtroom; detecting deception; and psychology and the police Kapardis draws on sources from Europe, North America and Australia to provide an expert investigation of the subjectivity and human fallibility inherent in our system of justice He also provides suggestions for minimising undesirable influences on crucial judicial decision-making International in its scope and broad-ranging in its research, this book is the authoritative work on psycho-legal enquiry for students and professionals in psychology, law, criminology, social work and law enforcement Andreas Kapardis is Professor of Legal Psychology, University of Cyprus Dedication This book is dedicated in gratitude to my wife Maria and children Konstantinos, Elena and Dina, and the memory of my parents Kostas and Sofia Psychology and Law A Critical Introduction Second edition ANDREAS KAPARDIS University of Cyprus    Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge  , United Kingdom Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521825306 © Andreas Kapardis 2003 This book is in copyright Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press First published in print format 2003 - - ---- eBook (EBL) --- eBook (EBL) - - ---- hardback --- hardback - - ---- paperback --- paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of s for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate Contents List of case studies Acknowledgements Foreword viii ix x Psycholegal research: an introduction Introduction: Development of the psycholegal field Bridging the gap between psychology and law: why it has taken so long Remaining difficulties Grounds for optimism Psychology and law in Australia Conclusions The book’s structure, focus and aim 12 14 17 19 19 Eyewitnesses: key issues and event characteristics Introduction Legal aspects of eyewitness testimony Characteristics of human attention, perception and memory Eyewitness testimony research: methodological considerations Variables in the study of eyewitness memory Variables that impact on eyewitness’ testimony accuracy Conclusions Revision questions 21 22 22 25 28 33 36 47 48 Eyewitnesses: the perpetrator and interviewing Introduction Witness characteristics Perpetrator variables Interrogational variables Misinformation due to source monitoring error Repressed or false-memory syndrome? Interviewing eyewitnesses effectively Conclusions Revision questions 49 49 50 71 73 79 79 85 91 94 Children as witnesses Introduction Legal aspects of children as witnesses Evaluations of the ‘live link’/closed-circuit television Child witnesses and popular beliefs about them v 95 96 96 100 103 vi Contents Children’s remembering ability Deception in children Factors that impact on children’s testimony Enhancing children’s testimony Interviewing children in sexual abuse cases Anatomical dolls and interviewing children 10 Conclusions Revision questions 103 106 106 117 119 121 123 125 The jury Introduction A jury of twelve: historical background The notion of an impartial and fair jury: a critical appraisal Methods for studying juries/jurors What we know about juries? Defendant characteristics Victim/plaintiff characteristics Interaction of defendant and victim characteristics Hung juries Models of jury-decision making 10 Reforming the jury to remedy some of its problems 11 Alternatives to trial by jury 12 Conclusions Revision questions 126 127 127 128 134 140 156 156 157 157 157 158 159 160 162 Sentencing as a human process Introduction Disparities in sentencing Studying variations in sentencing Some extra-legal factors that influence sentences Models of judicial decision-making Conclusions Revision questions 163 163 165 167 169 181 182 183 The psychologists as expert witnesses Introduction Five rules for admitting expert evidence United States England and Wales Australia, New Zealand and Canada The impact of expert testimony by psychologists Appearing as expert witnesses Conclusions Revision questions 184 185 187 189 193 199 202 204 205 207 Contents Persuasion in the courtroom Introduction Defining advocacy Qualities of an advocate: lawyers writing about lawyers Effective advocacy: some practical advice by lawyers Effective advocacy in the courtroom: empirical psychologists’ contribution Conclusions Revision questions 208 208 211 212 214 Detecting deception Introduction Paper-and-pencil tests The social psychological approach Physiological and neurological correlates of deception Brainwaves as indicators of deceitful communication Stylometry Statement reality/validity analysis (SVA) Reality monitoring Scientific content analysis Conclusions Revision questions 225 225 228 230 241 250 250 251 255 256 257 258 219 223 224 10 Witness recognition procedures Introduction Person identification from photographs Show-ups/witness confrontations Group identification Line-ups Voice identification Conclusions Revision questions 259 260 265 270 274 275 290 298 299 11 Psychology and the police Introduction Selection Predicting success within the force Encounters with the public Stress Questioning suspects False confessions Conclusions 300 300 302 305 306 309 312 322 328 12 Conclusions 329 Notes References Author index Subject index 331 343 408 420 vii Case studies A Christmas Day murderer who did not get away Examples of alarming jury verdicts Disparities in sentencing: a cause for international concern R v Steven Davis R v Peter Ellis Line-up misidentification Witness photo misidentification Real conditions for voice witness identification An untypical fraudster who proved difficult to question viii 37 132 165 196 197 261 266 291 316