Brian H. Bornstein – författare

Our basic assumption about the law is that it is designed to operate fairly and openly. But with human beings as the ultimate decision makers, how do we prevent discrimination within the legal arena, and how does the law decide whether others have behaved in a discriminatory manner? Social Consciousness in Legal Decision Making examines four controversial areas involving people’s perceptions of others—racial profiling, affirmative action, workplace harassment, and hate speech/hate crime—from the perspectives of psychology, decision theory, and the law.

This book''s contributing experts raise these critical questions:

In answering them, the book:

Social Consciousness in Legal Decision Making invites the legal and psychology communities to work together in solving some of our most pressing social problems.

From Merck to McDonald’s to Firestone, high-profile tort cases inspire high-powered tort reform debate. Simultaneously they fuel public perceptions of spurious claims and outlandish awards, while fostering professional perceptions of an unwieldy legal system. The contributors to Civil Juries and Civil Justice bring order, as well as a much-needed reality check, to the situation. This insightful, multidisciplinary volume provides in-depth case data, empirical findings, and original research, synthesizing a range of seemingly irreconcilable legal and psychological viewpoints. Leading scholars consider the roots of juryphobia, the growth trajectories of damage awards, alternative means of obtaining civil justice, and the role of the social sciences in formulating legal policy while addressing these key questions of the tort reform controversy:

Civil Juries and Civil Justice will attract readers across numerous disciplines: forensic psychologists and psychiatrists, attorneys, sociologists, criminologists, political scientists, and policy makers. Because of its research/practice orientation, professors and students in these fields will find it a worthy text for course adoption.

From questions surrounding motives to the concept of crimes of passion, the intersection of emotional states and legal practice has long interested professionals as well as the public—recent cases involving extensive pretrial publicity, highly charged evidence, and instances of jury nullification continue to make the subject particularly timely. With these trends in mind, Emotion and the Law brings a rich tradition in social psychology into sharp forensic focus in a unique interdisciplinary volume. Emotion, mood and affective states, plus patterns of conduct that tend to arise from them in legal contexts, are analyzed in theoretical and practical terms, using real-life examples from criminal and civil cases. From these complex situations, contributors provide answers to bedrock questions—what roles affect plays in legal decision making, when these roles are appropriate, and what can be done so that emotion is not misused or exploited in legal procedures—and offer complementary legal and social/cognitive perspectives on these and other salient issues: Positive versus negative affect in legal decision making, emotion, eyewitness memory, and false memory, the influence of emotions on juror decisions, and legal approaches to its control, a terror management theory approach to the understanding of hate crimes, policy recommendations for managing affect in legal proceedings, additional legal areas that can benefit from the study of emotion.

Emotion and the Law clarifies theoretical grey areas, revisits current practice, and suggests possibilities for both new scholarship and procedural guidelines, making it a valuable reference for psycho legal researchers, forensic psychologists, and policymakers.

This volume will be a handbook that treats trial consulting as applied psychology. The purpose of the volume will be to collect the viewpoints of leaders in the field of psychology and law who apply the discipline’s theoretical models, methods, and ethics to assist litigators to try cases in the most effective way possible. As a whole, the collection of chapters will describe the theory, business, and mechanics of trial consulting for those interested in learning and practicing the profession. However, it will do so from the perspective of organized theories of jury-decision making. In other words, the work of juror researchers will inform the recommendations and suggestions in the handbook. The volume consists of six sections, each pertaining to a different topic. Multiple chapters with different authors will cover each topic. The topics and corresponding seven sections will be 1) An Introduction to the Theory and Psychology of Jury Decision-Making, 2) Applied Research Methodologies for Trial Consultants, 3) Education and Ethical Considerations for Trial Consultants, 4) Preparing and Cross Examining Witnesses, 5) Technology and Demonstrative Evidence at Trial, and 6) Special Topics in Trial Consulting. Each section will begin with the editors’ short introduction reviewing that section and explaining its goals, objectives, and content. Separate individuals, recognized as leaders in their areas will write the remaining chapters in each section. These individuals come from the fields of both psychology and law, and represent viewpoints on these topics from a practice-oriented perspective, but a perspective that is emerges from research results. They are affiliated with a number of academic institutions, including University of Nebraska, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, University of Texas, University of Chicago Simon Fraser University, and private law firms.

This unique volume salutes the work of pioneering forensic psychologist Lawrence S. Wrightsman, Jr., by presenting current theorizing and research findings on issues that define the field of psychology and law. Ongoing topics in witness behaviors, suspect identification, and juror decision making illustrate how psychology and law complement and also conflict at various stages in legal processes. The book also sheds light on evolving areas such as DNA exonerations, professional trial consulting, and jury selection strategies, and the distinct challenges and opportunities these issues present. Noted contributors to the book include Wrightsman himself, who offers salient observations on the field that he continues to inspire. 

Featured among the topics:  

With its diverse mix of perspectives and methodologies, The Witness Stand and Lawrence S. Wrightsman, Jr. will interest forensic researchers in academic and applied settings, as well as individuals working in the legal system, such as attorneys, judges and law enforcement personnel.