Psychology and Law: Bridging the Gap

by David Canter, Rita Žukauskienė

This important book captures contemporary attempts to build bridges between the two very different disciplines of law and psychology and to establish the true nature of the interaction between the two. Including international contributions from lawyers, psychologists, sociologists and criminologists, the book bridges the inherent gap between the practice of law and the profession of psychology at an international level. It throws light on how psychology connects with, inter alia, the courts, prisons, community care, clinics, long-stay hospitals, police investigations and legislative bodies. More recent contributions of social science to legal proceedings are also covered, such as the liability that arises from lack of crime prevention, or the systematic prediction of likely violence by an offender. The book will be essential reading not only for academics and professionals in psychology, the law and related disciplines wishing to understand the broadening base of psychology within the legal process, but also for students trying to form an understanding of the emerging science and the associated career opportunities for this exciting field.

276 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2007

About the author

Professor of Psychology, university of Huddersfield.

David Victor Canter (born 5 January 1944) is a psychologist. He began his career as an architectural psychologist studying the interactions between people and buildings, publishing and providing consultancy on the designs of offices, schools, prisons, housing and other building forms as well as exploring how people made sense of the large scale environment, notably cities. He set up the Journal of Environmental Psychology in 1980. His work in architecture led to studies of human reactions in fires and other emergencies. He pioneered Investigative Psychology in Britain. He helped police in 1985 on the Railway Rapist case. He was the Professor of Psychology at the University of Surrey for ten years, where he developed Investigative Psychology described in detail in Investigative Psychology: Offender Profiling and the Analysis of Criminal Action and a course curriculum. He was Director of the Centre For Investigative Psychology which is based at the University of Liverpool. Since 2009 he has been at the University of Huddersfield. At Liverpool University Canter developed the MSc programme in Investigative Psychology which he directed until 2007. He no longer directs this programme which has consequently changed to reflect the wider arena of Forensic Psychology and a more balanced view of the field. He is the founder and director of the International Academy for Investigative Psychology, a professional academy for researchers seeking to apply social science to investigative and legal processes.