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Psychological and Policy Perspectives on the Law: Reflections on a Decade
Author(s) -
Tapp June Louin
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1980.tb02028.x
Subject(s) - mythology , limiting , psychological research , state (computer science) , critical appraisal , psychology , sociology , social psychology , law , epistemology , social science , political science , philosophy , mechanical engineering , medicine , alternative medicine , theology , algorithm , pathology , computer science , engineering
The progress and products of ten years of interaction between psychology and law provide the opportunity to probe the relationship of science to society and underscore the need to make social psychological theory and research a resource for social policy. The analysis begins with an overview of the boundaries of psychology and law, thus reconsidering the geography of psychology. An appraisal of the research activity of a decade evokes four critical observations on the current state of psycholegal study: (a) the overcriminalization of psychology; (b) the seduction of one's day‐in‐court; (c) the myth of mockery; and (d) the myth of law as font. These are considered in light of two basic issues that may be limiting contemporary psychology generally: