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NEIL BREWER and KIPLING D. WILLIAMS (Eds.) Psychology and Law: An Empirical Perspective New York: Guilford Publications, 2005, 518 pages (ISBN 1-59385-122-7, US$60.00 Hardcover)
This book deals with a wide array of topics selected from the fields of developmental, social, and cognitive psychology that were chosen because of their relevance and applicability to issues in the criminal justice system. As the tide implies, forensic practices can be understood (and ultimately enhanced) by research that addresses the scientific foundation of those practices. The editors deliver exactly what they promise, namely, empirical analyses of the various procedures and assumptions within the legal system.
Edited volumes, in my experience, are often uneven with respect to the scope of coverage and the quality of writing. This one is an exception. There are several excellent chapters and no weak ones. Contributors include Vrij, Loftus, Poole, Wells, Oglov, Penrod, and Kovera, all of whom are leading experts in their respective fields.
Powell, Fisher, and Wright provide a thorough, upto-date review of the best practices for the successful interviewing of child witnesses. Stimulated, in part, by numerous high-profile examples of apparently false allegations of abuse in day care centres in the late 1980s (e.g., the McMartin preschool in California, the Wee Care Day Nursery in New Jersey, the Martensville case in Saskatchewan), a substantial body of research now exists on how best to elicit reliable information from child informants. Although there is substantial international consensus regarding the most appropriate interview techniques, actual forensic interviews frequently (and regrettably) are not compliant with recommended guidelines. The authors review various training programs and make recommendations about the most effective means of translating concepts into practice.
Granhag and Vrij describe research on the detection of deception. In Julius Casear (Act IV), Octavius opines that "some...