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Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law
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Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law

Two Volume Set
Edited by:
  • Brian L. Cutler - Coral Coast Group, Inc., University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Canada

December 2007 | 1 008 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

The Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law addresses the interface of psychology and law and draws from the related discipline of criminal justice. These two volumes represent an outstanding collection of entries describing a wide array of contemporary and historical psychology and law topics. With more than 400 entries, this comprehensive resource is perfect to fill the substantial gap in the holdings of academic, professional, and personal libraries on this topic.

Key Themes

  • Criminal Competencies
  • Criminal Responsibility
  • Death Penalty
  • Education and Professional Development
  • Forensic Assessment in Civil and Criminal Cases
  • Juvenile Offenders
  • Mental Health Law
  • Police and Investigative Psychology
  • Psychological and Forensic Assessment Instruments
  • Psychology of Criminal Behavior
  • Sentencing and Incarceration
  • Symptoms and Disorders Relevant to Forensic Assessment
  • Trial Processes
  • Violence Risk Assessment

The Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law allows individual students, scientists, and practitioners to keep abreast of the growing knowledge base outside their individual areas of expertise, making it a must-have resource for any academic library.


This set is edited by Cutler (psychology, Univ. of North Carolina), who

already has to his credit other scholarly works on the growing field of

psychology and the law, including Mistaken Identification: The

Eyewitness, Psychology and the Law. The legal topics addressed here span

the major subdivisions of psychology-i.e., cognitive, developmental,

clinical, biological, and industrial/organizational. The 400 entries are

authored by a score of international contributors, range in length from

one to five pages, and are arranged alphabetically by topic. In the

introduction, readers are encouraged to use the Reader's Guide, which

arranges entries thematically-indeed, many entries appear in multiple

categories of the guide, and aspects of any given topic can range across

the two volumes. For example, the "Death Penalty" entry does not include

the same information found in the "Racial Bias and the Death Penalty"

entry. The text offers the occasional unnecessary observation, such as

the first sentence in the "Sex Offender Community Notification (Megan's

Laws)" entry: "Sexual assault is a serious problem of great concern."

Well, yes, absolutely, but we don't need this encyclopedia to tell us

that. BOTTOM LINE There is no other reference work on psychology and the

law, so libraries supporting curricula in this area may consider

purchasing. But because this field of study is still in its infancy, and

it remains to be seen whether it will grow into something major, this

set is otherwise an optional purchase for most libraries.

—Katherine Mossman, Everett P.L., WA

Katherine Mossman
Library Journal
Library Journal

Select a Purchasing Option


Rent or Buy eBook
ISBN: 9781452265803

Hardcover
ISBN: 9781412951890
$475.00

This title is also available on SAGE Knowledge, the ultimate social sciences online library. If your library doesn’t have access, ask your librarian to start a trial.