Suggestibility in Legal Contexts: Psychological Research and Forensic Implications (Wiley Series in Psychology of Crime, Policing and Law) - Softcover

Ridley, Anne M.; Gabbert, Fiona; La Rooy, David J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470663685 ISBN 13: 9780470663684

Publisher: *Wiley-Blackwell, 2012

Synopsis

A comprehensive survey of the theory, research and forensic implications related to suggestibility in legal contexts that includes the latest research.

• Provides a useful digest for academics and a trusted text for students of forensic and applied psychology
• A vital resource for legal practitioners who need to familiarize themselves with the subject
• Includes practical suggestions for minimizing witness suggestibility in interviews
• Features topics that focus on suggestibility at each stage - from witnessing a crime through to trial

About this title

About the Author

Anne Ridley is Principal Lecturer in Psychology at London South Bank University, UK, with particular interest in individual differences in witness suggestibility as well as strategies for supporting vulnerable witnesses in the legal system. In 2008 she was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy.

Fiona Gabbert is a Reader in Psychology at the University of Abertay Dundee, UK. She is an expert in the area of social influences on memory, and has published widely on this topic, including a chapter on ‘memory conformity’ in the current book. Another of Fiona’s interests is developing methods to obtain reliable evidence from eyewitnesses. She received an Academic Excellence Award for ‘Outstanding Achievements in the Area of Investigative Interviewing’ in 2011.

David La Rooy is a Reader in Psychology at the University of Abertay Dundee, UK. He is also a Scottish Institute for Policing Research Lecturer and his research focuses on issues surrounding the forensic interviewing of children. He teaches evidence-based investigative-interviewing and oversees the university’s degree course in Forensic Psychobiology.

From the Back Cover

Suggestibility in Legal Contexts is a comprehensive guide to the theory, research and forensic implications related to suggestibility in legal contexts. It traces the history of the topic from the early twentieth century to the present, including its post-1970s resurgence after the publication of the seminal research of Elizabeth Loftus.

The text engages with the investigative and theoretical controversies that have attended the subject, including controversial topics such as recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse in adulthood, and coerced or false confessions.

Core chapters are structured thematically and cover salient aspects of the field such as research on ‘immediate’ versus ‘delayed’ suggestibility; memory conformity and the relationship between suggestibility and vulnerability factors including age, intellectual disabilities, personality and memory. The text also outlines witness interview techniques that can reduce the effect of suggested evidence in legal cases.

From the Inside Flap

Suggestibility in Legal Contexts is a comprehensive guide to the theory, research and forensic implications related to suggestibility in legal contexts. It traces the history of the topic from the early twentieth century to the present, including its post-1970s resurgence after the publication of the seminal research of Elizabeth Loftus.

The text engages with the investigative and theoretical controversies that have attended the subject, including controversial topics such as recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse in adulthood, and coerced or false confessions.

Core chapters are structured thematically and cover salient aspects of the field such as research on ‘immediate’ versus ‘delayed’ suggestibility; memory conformity and the relationship between suggestibility and vulnerability factors including age, intellectual disabilities, personality and memory.  The text also outlines witness interview techniques that can reduce the effect of suggested evidence in legal cases.

Edition details

• Publisher: *Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0470663685
• ISBN 13: 9780470663684
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256