NCJ Number
228367
Editor(s)
Richard N. Kocsis, Ph.D.
Date Published
2009
Length
293 pages
Annotation
This comprehensive and practical guide to psychological research and techniques addresses various forms of mental disorder and their association with or manifestation in criminal behavior; deceit, eyewitness memory, and confessions; and the application of psychology to the investigation of crime.
Abstract
The first of three major parts of the book is entitled, "Criminal Behavior and Mental Disorder." The first of four chapters provides an overview of the most frequent DSM-IV Axis I mental disorders that are likely to manifest themselves in criminal behavior. The second chapter addresses antisocial behaviors and personality disorders and associated features likely to lead to criminal behavior. This is followed by a chapter that discusses the role of the forensic psychologist as an expert witness in the United States and briefly in England, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada for comparison. This chapter also considers the role of forensic psychologists in the assessment of criminal behavior and its impact on victims, as well as legal and ethical issues in the assessment of criminal and violent behavior. The fourth chapter focuses on the role of the forensic psychologist in risk assessment. Five chapters compose the second part of the book, entitled, "Deceit, Memory, and Confessions." The chapter on the detection of deceit outlines five theoretical approaches to people's nonverbal behavior. The chapter shows that the detection of deceit in legal contexts is difficult, and there is no single lie-detection technique that can be trusted always to produce a reliable conclusion. Other chapters in this part provide overviews of the psychological features and reliability of eyewitness memory, cognitive interviewing, forensic hypnosis, and false confessions. The third part of the book, "Investigating or Responding to Crime," contains three chapters on criminal profiling, psychological "autopsy," and crisis negotiation. Chapter references and a subject index