About the Author:
Lawrence S. Wrightsman (Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 1959) was professor of psychology at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. Wrightsman authored or edited ten other books relevant to the legal system, including Psychology and the Legal System (4th edition, coauthored with Michael T. Nietzel and William H. Fortune), The American Jury on Trial (coauthored with Saul M. Kassin), and Judicial Decision Making: Is Psychology Relevant? He was invited to contribute the entry on the law and psychology for the recently published Encyclopedia of Psychology, sponsored by the American Psychological Association and published by Oxford University Press. His research topics included jury selection procedures, reactions to police interrogations, and the impact of judicial instructions. He also served as a trial consultant and testified as an expert witness. Wrightsman is a former president of both the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues and the Society of Personality and Social Psychology. In 1998 he was the recipient of a Distinguished Career Award from the American Psychology-Law Society. This award has been made on only six occasions in the 30-year history of the organization; the preceding awardee was U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun.
Solomon Fulero is both a practicing attorney and a psychologist. He is currently Professor and former Chair of Psychology at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio and Clinical Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at Wright State University in Dayton. He maintains private practices in both psychology and law, and is a frequent expert witness on matters pertaining to legal psychology, in both social/experimental (eyewitness testimony, interrogations and confessions, pretrial publicity, etc.) and clinical (competency, sanity, sexual predator status, competency to waive Miranda rights, etc.) areas. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles in both psychology journals and law reviews. Dr. Fulero is the 2003-2004 President of the American Psychology-Law Society, Division 41 of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Fulero received his Ph.D. in social psychology and his law degree from the University of Oregon in August 1979 and December 1979 respectively, and a respecialization certificate in clinical psychology from Wright State University in June 1988.
Review:
"I loved the inclusion of scales that measure juror bias (students also seem to love "real world" examples of the tools of the trade - it makes understanding less abstract for them when actual items are presented)."
"This is a great introductory chapter to the field of forensic psychology. It offers undergraduate students an opportunity to see the diversity of the field, learn the history of forensic psychology and the impact that it has on society, be made aware of the continuing controversies in this field, and identify the differences between psychology and the law which leads to the uneasy alliance between the two disciplines."
"I have used (Wrightsman's) Psychology and Law book through each of the revisions...and each time the book gets better." "I think the greatest strength is that the book achieves its main goal...to provide an overview and sampling of the varied roles of forensic psychology."
"This text is, in my opinion, the only text of its like appropriate for the advanced undergraduate student. My students are eager to learn the information in the text, and they use this as the stepping stone for further inquiry. I have never had students perform better in a course than this one, and I attribute the majority of the credit to the author(s) of the text."
"It is probably the best text for introductory courses on forensic psychology. It covers extensively the issues facing psychologists who find themselves in positions that interact with the criminal justice system."
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