DATE	SECTION	TOPIC	DUE DATES
1/11/06	Intro	Orientation to the course and introduction
1/18/06	I	Overview of Psychology and Law
1/25/06	II	Research and Scholarship Issues	Law Library visit
2/1/06	III	Pop Forensics and Science: Criminal Profiling
2/8/06	IV	Malingering and Lie Detection;Eyewitness issues
2/15/06	V	Police Interrogations and Confessions	Main Points 1 [Sections I-V]
2/22/06	VI	Competency to Proceed	Topic Proposal and 5 references
3/1/06		NO CLASS
3/8/06	VII	Criminal Responsibility;Other Mental State Defenses and Issues	Quiz 1 [Sections I-VI]
3/15/06		Spring Break
3/22/06	VIII	Expert Testimony	Topic Detailed Outline;   Main Points 2 [Sections VI-VIII]
3/29/06	IX	Jury Selection/Decision making
4/5/06	X	Death Penalty and Jury Decision
4/12/06	XI	Competency to Plead Guilty, to proceed pro se, to waive appeals, and issues of mental retardation
4/19/06	XII	Juveniles in the Criminal Justice System; Issues in Child Sexual Abuse	Main Points 3 [Sections IX-XII]   Quiz 2 [Sections VI-XII]
4/26/06	XIII	Risk assessment and system reform	Final paper due
5/3/05		No Class

 

Course details

This course is oriented towards advanced undergraduate and graduate students in the social and behavioral sciences, pre-law or law school students, criminal justice students, and criminal justice/mental health professionals who work at the interface of the behavioral sciences and the legal system. As such, it presumes that you have a background in the methods and theories of the either the social and behavioral sciences, the legal system or the criminal justice system, that would come from an undergraduate major or minor in these disciplines, or work experience in the field. The course also presumes that you are interested in expanding your horizons to understand the methods, theories and issues of the other disciplines and the nature of their mutual interactions.

There is a text book for this class:

 

Bartol, C.R. & Bartol, A.M. (2004). Psychology and Law: Theory, Research and Application, Third Edition. Thompson/Wadsworth:Belmont, CA. ISBN:0-534-52818-X.

 

You can either buy it at the Campus Bookstore [they charge close to the full tilt price] or purchase it on your own. It sells on Amazon.com or Bizrate.com or aaabooksearch.com for somewhat less. It is your responsibility to obtain this book. Each week there will also be a few other readings, from articles or chapters, some for all students, and some for voluntary discussion-leaders [described below]. All of these will be available on electronic reserve at the Marriott library, and for those with copyright issues, from regular reserve.

 

I intend to teach this course in a modified seminar format. You should come to class each week having read and thought about the assigned book materials and supplementary readings and should be prepared to ask questions and enter into a dialogue about the topics assigned. Some of the additional readings [beyond the text] are neither particularly easy nor written with undergraduates in mind. Nevertheless, reading them and actively engaging in the process of learning is critical. To encourage you to engage in such active learning, you will be asked to prepare three short (i.e., maximum five pages, typewritten) main points papers covering the assigned materials for the sections designated in the master schedule.

Each paper should summarize what you believe to be the main points of the sections= readings with respect to a) behavioral science issues, b) legal issues, and c) research, scholarly and social policy issues raised by the readings. The purpose of the papers is to help you track and think about the readings in advance of the class lecture and discussion about them. The papers will not be graded. You will receive full credit for setting down your thoughts and reactions in a disciplined manner. Each paper will count for 6.66% of your final grade, making it possible to earn up to 20% of your grade by conscientiously reading and thinking about the assigned readings and preparing a five page summary of the psycholegal issues.

 

You are strongly encouraged to read beyond the assigned materials, for example, by pursuing issues raised in the materials on your own, with the aid of the references cited by the materials. In order to encourage you to read more widely, I have purposefully kept the assigned materials reasonably short, but representative, and containing good, modern references. Each week, I will present short lectures designed to summarize and integrate the materials and to stimulate class discussion.

Evaluation      Most (40%) of your course grade will depend upon a final paper (to be described below). The quality of your participation in class discussion will also be taken into account [see below], particularly if you end up on the border between two grades (e.g., A-/B+ ; B-/C+, etc.). The modal grade expected in this class is B+, assigned to students who write solid and competent papers and actively participate. Grades of A are assigned to those whose papers are distinguished by their scholarliness and thoughtfulness (at this level of training) and by the quality of their class participation. Grades of C or lower are assigned when the student’s level of performance is significantly below expectations for this level of class.

 

Final paper     You should prepare a scholarly research paper, of no more than 20 double-spaced, typewritten pages on a focused topic in the area of behavioral sciences and the law. The paper should be prepared according to either standard APA style or in the style of a law review paper. You must obtain approval from me on the topic of the paper. Approval for this paper happens in two steps, both of which are mandatory. First, by the date indicated, you must turn in a proposed topic along with a minimum of 5 primary scholarly sources upon which you will rely. Second, by the date indicated, you must turn in a 2 page outline of the paper you propose to write. Approval means that your proposed outline and minimum source list are approved. I maintain a large resource library of books and reprints, and can be a source for finding targeted reviews and summaries of many topics in this area. Throughout our class discussion, I will suggest possible paper topics and sources, but you should also use this opportunity to pursue some aspect of psychology and law that is of particular interest to you. The paper, due the last day of class, should be focused on a rather specific topic.

 

 Some guidance on the structure of such a paper may be helpful. Suppose, for example, you were interested in Abattered women=s syndrome.@ Your paper might be divided into the following sections:

 

a)        Behavioral science issues

 

·   what behavioral science theories and observations give rise to the concept of a Abattered women=s syndrome@

·   How have those theories, ideas, and observations been subject to research scrutiny?

·   Summarize the data on the reliability, validity, error rate, etc. in reference to those research studies?

·   What are the principle critiques of the concept and the research?

 

b)       Legal issues

 

·   How do the courts and legal scholars conceptualize Abattered women=s syndrome?@

·   For example, is it used as a defense? Is it a mitigation issue? What elements need to be proved, and by what standard?

·   In what types of cases is it admissible and when is it not admissible?

·   What arguments lie behind jurisdictional variation in its admissibility?

·   What is its current status in Utah law? How does Utah differ from other state and federal jurisdictions?

 

c)        Research, scholarly and social policy issues

 

·   What kinds of research and legal developments do you anticipate?

·   What kinds of moral, political (Alegal realism@ Ascientific realism@) issues lie behind the debates?

 

Generating paper ideas. The best source of an idea is your own internal sense of interest, excitement, anger, disagreement or agreement with an idea discussed in the readings and /or class. That is, follow the Afire in your belly.@ However, a variety of good source books are available that contain modern summaries of many areas of interest, and serve as a good starting place for either generating ideas for papers or for finding modern references to particular topics. Among the better are:

American Bar Association. (1989). American Bar Association Criminal Justice Mental Health Standards. Washington, D.C.: Author.

Austin K.M., Moline, M. E., & Williams, G. T. (1990). Confronting malpractice: Legal and ethical dilemmas in psychotherapy. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Hess, A. K. & Weiner, I. B. (Eds.) (2006). The Handbook of Forensic Psychology: Third Edition. New York: Wiley. (Core book for professionals)

Kagehiro, D. K., & Laufer, W. S. (Eds.) (1992). Handbook of psychology and law. New York: Springer-Verlag. (Core book for professionals).

Koocher, G. P., & Keith-Spiegel, P. C. (1990). Children, ethics and the law: Professional issue and cases. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

McDonald, J.J. & Kulick,F.B. (Eds.) (2001). Mental and emotional injuries in employment litigation. Second edition. Washington,D.C.:Bureau of National Affairs (BNA).

Monahan, J., & Walker, L. (1998). Social science in law: Cases and materials. 4^th Edition. Westbury, NY: Foundation Press

Melton, G., Petrila, J., Poythress, N.G., & Slobogin, C. (1997). Psychological evaluations for the courts: A handbook for mental health professionals and lawyers: Second Edition. New York: Guildford. (Core book for professionals).

Parry, J. W., Hominik, D., Skoler, G., & Altschwager, H. (1998). National Benchbook on Psychiatric and Psychological Evidence and Testimony. Washington, DC: American Bar Association.

Parry, J., & Drogin, E. (2000). Civil Law Handbook on Psychiatric and Psychological Evidence and Testimony. Washington,D.C.: American Bar Association.

Parry, J., & Drogin, E. (2000). Criminal Law Handbook on Psychiatric and Psychological Evidence and Testimony. Washington,D.C.: American Bar Association.

Perlin, M. (1994). Law and mental disability. Charlottesville, VA.:Mitchie

 

Reisner, R., & Slobogin, C. (1990). Law and the mental health system, Second Edition. St. Paul, MN: West.

Shuman, D. W. (2002). Psychiatric and psychological evidence Second Edition. Colorado Springs, CO.: Shepard’s/McGraw-Hill. [Updated yearly by supplements]

Simon, R. I. (1992). Clinical psychiatry and the law, Second Edition. Washington, D. C. : American Psychiatric Press, Inc.

Smith, S. R., & R. G. Meyer. (1987). Law, behavior, and mental health: policy and practice New York : New York University Press.

Spring, R. L., Lacoursiere, R. B. & Weissenberger, G. (1990). Patients, psychiatrists and lawyers: Law and the mental health system. Cincinnati: Anderson.

Weiner, I. B. & Hess, A. K. (Eds.) (1987). Handbook of forensic psychology. New York: Wiley.

Wrightsman, L. S., Nietzel, M. T., & Fortune, W. H. (1998). Psychology and the legal system (4^th ed.). Belmont, CA : Brooks/Cole. (Very useful for undergraduates).

In addition, a number of scholarly journals are well worth consulting, in particular:

American Psychologist

American Journal of Psychiatry.

Behavioral Sciences and the Law,

Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry

Law and Human Behavior

Mental and Physical Disability Law Reporter

 

Quizzes: There will be two short answer quizzes, at the times indicated on the master schedule. Each will cover material covered before each quiz. They will consist of three short answer questions each, and each quiz will count for 20% of your grade. The questions will basically tap your understanding of the main points of the readings and lectures for the relevant sections, and will be modeled on the review questions from the Bartol and Bartol book.

 

Discussion-leader: Each of you may choose to be a discussion-leader for any of the “advanced” readings. This means that you would take charge of a presentation about one of these advanced readings and lead a class discussion for 15 minutes. This will earn you a maximum of 10 extra-credit points. Each discussion-leader will be responsible for reading the week=s assignments in great detail and reading several other articles/cases relevant to the week=s assignment, but not assigned to the class (that is, the “discussion-leader readings are required for the discussion-leader, but it’s optional, though highly encouraged, for all). The discussion-leader will summarize the issues for the class, and be responsible for a question and answer period with me and the class. For the most part, I will try to have the materials also on electronic reserve. There may be as many as 3 discussion leaders for each section. Of course, having more than one will involve coordinating with me which extra readings are the responsibility of who. All class members are encouraged to read the materials as well, but it is not required.

 

Class participation Your overall participation in the class will constitute a “fudge factor” if you end up on the borderline between two grades.

Summary of grading:

Thought papers (20%)

Paper (40%)

Quizzes 20% x 2 =40%

Extra-credit for discussion-leader, 10%

Class participation – fudge factor.