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Wrightsman’s Psychology and the Legal System
The author team for WRIGHTSMAN'S PSYCHOLOGY AND THE LEGAL SYSTEM, Sixth Edition combines complementary expertise, active research, writing careers, and real world experience (as consultants working within the legal system) to produce a comprehensive text that is unparalleled in scholarship and writing style. The authorship, research base and comprehensive coverage make this text popular with instructors and students. This text demonstrates the importance of psychology to understanding the legal system and the impact on individuals' everyday lives through the use of real cases and questions formed to create discussions of these cases.
535 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
6 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 21, 2022
3.5 ⭐ easy to read and understand but some of the statistics could be updated and expanded upon. I read this for a Social Psychology of Justice class and I am glad my professor went outside of this to include things like the Innocence Project and racism in the justice system.
May 17, 2025
Good solid textbook. Lots of information tho and small text. Loved the updated a real world examples (ex. January 6th, Ted Bundy, etc)
May 9, 2021
Very easy textbook read.
May 30, 2008
This is a textbook. As far as textbooks go, this one was easy to read, well-organized, and presented concepts well. The chapters end with a summary as well as key concepts (vocabulary words). It also contains an index, and index of cited researchers, a bibliography, and a glossary.
The book covers research in psychology and social psychology and how behavioral sciences relate to the criminal justice system. Areas of the criminal justice system covered include the philosophy of the U.S. justice system, the psychology of criminals (and the various theories about what causes crime), the psychology of the police (police-community relations, personality testing, burn-out), the psychology of being arrested (why some people over others, racial profiling, interrogation methods, Miranda, etc.), the psychology of being a defendant (proving competence, insanity defense, issues with eye-witness testimony, etc.), the psychology of choosing or being in a jury, the psychology of victims/survivors, the psychology of juvenile criminals, and the psychological mechanisms around detention and imprisonment.
This is a broad overview of where the touch points are between the behavioral sciences and the criminal justice system. For that, the book does its job well. If you're looking for a more detailed analysis, this may be a good reference for landmark cases, the names of researchers, and some broad information about their studies.
The book covers research in psychology and social psychology and how behavioral sciences relate to the criminal justice system. Areas of the criminal justice system covered include the philosophy of the U.S. justice system, the psychology of criminals (and the various theories about what causes crime), the psychology of the police (police-community relations, personality testing, burn-out), the psychology of being arrested (why some people over others, racial profiling, interrogation methods, Miranda, etc.), the psychology of being a defendant (proving competence, insanity defense, issues with eye-witness testimony, etc.), the psychology of choosing or being in a jury, the psychology of victims/survivors, the psychology of juvenile criminals, and the psychological mechanisms around detention and imprisonment.
This is a broad overview of where the touch points are between the behavioral sciences and the criminal justice system. For that, the book does its job well. If you're looking for a more detailed analysis, this may be a good reference for landmark cases, the names of researchers, and some broad information about their studies.
June 5, 2011
I think this was a pretty good textbook. Most of the subject material was very interesting, and there were plenty of real life cases discussed that were relevant to the subject at hand. Lots of research was discussed in every chapter, and provided support to a lot of the things the book was teaching about.
I read this book on the Kindle, and while I think the Kindle formatting leaves a little bit to be wanted, I still think I prefer it to a regular book.
This is a pretty decent textbook and very good for those interested in criminal justice and/or psychology. I learned a few things that I was not aware of, and saw more support for things I have already learned in other classes.
I read this book on the Kindle, and while I think the Kindle formatting leaves a little bit to be wanted, I still think I prefer it to a regular book.
This is a pretty decent textbook and very good for those interested in criminal justice and/or psychology. I learned a few things that I was not aware of, and saw more support for things I have already learned in other classes.
August 22, 2014
4 1/2 stars. My girlfriend used this textbook for an undergrad course in psychology and law. I thought it looked fascinating, so I stole it off her shelf. And it was fascinating. The textbook references a wealth of studies on the places where psychology intertwines with legal matters, and every chapter was full of interesting research. The one drawback is that it is entirely black and white, but that's a minor complaint.
June 2, 2008
Easy to read textbook, not dry.
February 16, 2013
I usually hate the way textbooks relay information, but this one is amazing!
April 24, 2016
This was just a regular textbook. I don't feel like it was particularly interesting, but it wasn't bad either.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews