Dr. Shari Diamond
OFFICE: BSB 1046C PHONE: 312-413-2639 E-MAIL: SDIAMOND@UIC.EDU
Psychological research addresses a variety of topics in law that become the substance of dispute in legal decisions (e.g., predictions of dangerousness, eyewitness testimony, competency, the defense of insanity). Psychologists also conduct research on law --- on the operation of the legal system (e.g., jury selection, procedural justice, decision biases in judgment) and how legal decisions can be affected by other societal institutions (e.g., the media). These topics cross the traditional sub-disciplines in psychology (e.g., social, cognitive, clinical). We will examine examples from all of these areas this semester.
January 16 - 21: Psychology and Law Dilemmas and an Overview of the
Structure of Legal Decisionmaking
WNF, ch. 1 (1-24), ch. 10 (216-223), ch 12 (267-274),
ch 19 (446-467)
Daubert v. Merrell-Dow (1993) 509 US 579-601.
II. LAW ENFORCEMENT AND PROSECUTION
January 23: Law Enforcement and Discretion
WNF ch. 6 (113-140)
Wortley & Homel (1995) Police prejudice as a function of
training and outgroup contact: A longitudinal investigation. Law and
Human Behavior, 19, 305-317.
January 28-30: Eyewitness Identification
WNF ch. 7 (141-165)
F et al. ch 11 - Eyewitness identifications, 431-474
Shaw III and McClure (1996) Repeated postevent questioning can
lead to elevated levels of eyewitness confidence. Law and Human Behavior,
629-653.
February 4-6: Identification and Evaluation of Criminal Suspects: Profiling, Lie Detection, & Confessions
WNF ch. 8 (166-193)
F et al. ch 14 - Polygraph Tests, 546-591
Kassin & Kiechel (1996) The Social psychology of false confessions:
Compliance, internalization, and confabulation. Psychological Science,
7, 125-128.
February 11-13: Rape
WNF ch. 15 (338-362)
F et al. ch 10 - Rape Trauma Syndrome, 397-43.
Kilpatrick, Resnick, & Veronen (1981).
Effects of a rape experience: A longitudinal study. Journal of Social
Issues, 37, 105-122.
III. RESPONSIBILITY, EXCUSE, AND JUSTIFICATION
February 18-20: Judging Competency and Responsibility (including the defense of insanity)
WNF ch. 11 (245-265), ch. 3 (45-51), ch.16 (363-386).
Fulero & Everington (1995) Assessing competency to waive
Miranda rights in defendants with mental retardation. Law and Human
Behavior, 19, 533-543.
F et al. ch. 6 - Insanity and diminished capacity (217-232)
Silver (1995) Punishment or treatment? Comparing the lengths
of confinement of successful and unsuccessful insanity defendants. Law
and Human Behavior, 19, 375-388.
Steadman et al. (1993) Before and After Hinckley: Evaluating
Insanity Defense Reform, ch. 1 (1-10), ch. 9 (138-152).
February 25-27: Domestic Violence and the Law
F et al. ch 8 - Battered Woman Syndrome and Other Psychological
Effects of Domestic Violence Against Women, 315-375
Follingstad (1996) - Forensic evaluations of battered women defendants:
Relevant data to
be applied to elements of self-defense. Applied & Preventive
Psychology, 5, 165-178.
exchanges about legal standards for a BWS defense on the
Psych-Law Bulletin board
(to be distributed)
March 4: Mid-Term
IV. PREDICTION AND PUNISHMENT
March 6-11: Predicting Dangerousness and Decisions on Bail and Involuntary Commitment
WNF ch. 10 (224-230), ch 17 (406-411)
F et al. ch 7 - Clinical and actuarial predictions of violence,
283-314
Quinsey, Rice, & Harris (1995) Actuarial prediction
of sexual recidivism. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 10, 85-105.
Stepejak, Menzies, Webster, & Jensen (1983) Clinical predictions
of dangerousness: Two-year follow-up of 408 pre-trial forensic cases. Bulletin
of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 11, 171-181.
Slovic & Monahan (1995) Probability, danger, and coercion:
A Study of risk perception and decision making in mental health law. Law
and Human Behavior, 19, 49-65.
March 13-27 (note that day 2 is after Spring Break): Decisions on the Death Penalty
Cowan, Thompson & Ellsworth (1984) The effects of death qualification
on jurors' predisposition to convict and on the quality of deliberation.
Law and Human Behavior, 8, 53-79.
Lockhart v. McCree (1986) 476 U.S. 162-206.
Marquart, Ekland-Olson, & Sorensen (1989) Gazing into the
crystal ball: Can jurors accurately predict dangerousness in capital cases?
Law & Society Review, 23, 449-467.
Barefoot v. Estelle (1983) 103 S.Ct. 3383, 3384, 3387-3389,
3396-3399, 3406-3418.
March 17-21: Spring Break
IV. LEGAL DECISIONMAKING BY THE JUDICIARY AND THE LAY PUBLIC
April 1: The Effects of Expectations on Legal Process: The Media and Personal Experience
Bailis & MacCoun (1996) Estimating liability risks with the
media as your guide: A Content analysis of media coverage of tort litigation.
Law and Human Behavior, 20, 419-429.
Smith & Studebaker (1996) What do you expect?: The Influence
of people's prior knowledge of crime categories on fact-finding. Law
and Human Behavior, 20, 517-532.
WNF ch. 14 (310-319)
April 3: Legal Decisionmaking: Judges, Juries, and Others
WNF ch. 12 (274-279)
Vidmar & Rice (1993) Assessments of noneconomic damage awards
in medical negligence: A comparison of jurors with legal professionals,
Iowa L.R., 78, 883-911.
Wells (1992) Naked statistical evidence of liability: Is subjective
probability enough? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
739-752.
April 8-10: Jury Selection and Remedies for Pretrial Publicity
WNF ch. 10 (237-243), ch 13 (286-308)
Dexter, Cutler, & Moran (1992) A Test of voir dire as a
remedy for the prejudicial effects of pretrial publicity. Journal of
Applied Social Psychology, 22, 819-832.
Vidmar & Melnitzer (1984) Juror prejudice: An empirical
study of a challenge for cause. Osgoode Hall Law Journal, 22,
487-511.
Jones (1987) Judge- versus attorney-conducted voir dire: An
empirical investigation of juror candor, Law and Human Behavior,
131-146.
April 15-17: Jury Decisionmaking
WNF ch. 14 (319-336)
Ellsworth (1989) Are twelve heads better than one? Law and
Contemporary Problems, 52, 205-224.
Pennington & Hastie (1992) Explaining the evidence: Tests
of the story model for juror decision making. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 62, 189-206.
Lempert (1991) Telling tales in court: Trial procedure and the
story model. Cardozo Law Review, 13, 558-573.
Cather, Greene, & Durham (1996) Plaintiff injury and defendant
reprehensibility: Implications for compensatory and punitive damage awards.
Law and Human Behavior, 20, 189-205.
April 22-24: Controlling the Jury
Horowitz (1985) The Effect of jury nullification instruction
on verdicts and jury functioning in criminal trials. Law and Human Behavior,
9, 25-36.
Landsman & Rakos (1994) A Preliminary inquiry into the effect
of potentially biasing information on judges and jurors in civil litigation.
Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 113-126.
Casper, Benedict, & Perry (1989) Juror decision making,
attitudes, and the hindsight bias. Law and Human Behavior, 13, 291-310.
Diamond & Casper (to be distributed) Adversary controls
on the influence of experts.
April 29: Reactions to Legal Process
Bickman (1979) Interpersonal influence and the reporting of a
crime. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 5, 32-35.
MacCoun & Tyler (1988) The basis of citizens' perceptions
of the criminal jury: Procedural fairness, accuracy, and efficiency. Law
and Human Behavior, 12, 333-352.
Casper, Tyler, & Fisher (1988) Procedural justice in felony
cases. Law & Society Review, 22, 483-507.
April 29-May 1: graduate student presentations
Papers due