NCJ Number
162065
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 23 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1996) Pages: 236-250
Date Published
1996
Length
15 pages
Annotation
The author traces the recent history of the liaison between psychology and law, describes the need to examine the content domain of psychology and law, and considers the wisdom of uniting the overlap between psychology and law in a discipline termed forensic psychology.
Abstract
The field of psychology is characterized by several domains. The criminal justice domain restricts psychology to criminal development, apprehension, adjudication, and correction. The psychology and law domain focuses on psycholegal questions. Probably the best description of what psychologists do in the realm of criminal justice can be referred to as forensic psychology. The history of forensic psychology is based on individual differences, and forensic psychology has a strong presence in psychological assessment. Changes that have occurred in the theory and practice of forensic psychology are reviewed, and emerging trends that will shape the future theory, research, and practice agenda of forensic psychology are outlined. 33 references