Psychology and Law

Law and psychology are two separate disciplines.

They have an interface in the criminal justice system .
Law is based on ideas of justice in the individual society ,culture
Psychology's goal is to understand behavior while law's goal to regulate
it.
Both make assumptions about what causes people to act the way they
do.
Psychologists’ researches have affected the legal thinking.
Laws have been derived from many
sources

• Religious, spiritual beliefs - Judeo Christian philosophy, Sharia,

Manusmriti
• Philosophical - Ideological perspectives – Marxism, feminism
• Socio Cultural beliefs – tribal laws (aborigines), personal laws (Amish)
• Racial, Eugenics, Apartheid
• Colonial, historical legacy of laws
Some areas where psychologists
and researches have affected legal
thinking
• De-segregation (brown vs board case) – separate but equal doctrine
• Psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark, PhD, demonstrated that
segregation harmed black children's self-images. Their testimony
before the Supreme Court contributed to the landmark Supreme
Court case that de-segregated American public schools: Brown v.
Board of Education of Topeka, Kan.
• Sexual assault – recall of traumatic events – trauma researchers
Bessel van der Kolk showed that the language of trauma is silence.
• Change in the definition of consent during sexual assault.
• False allegations in sexual assault cases.
• Innocence project.
 Scotts Borough trial

• 19 Black youth were wrongly convicted of sexual assault of two white

women.
• Psychologists testified in the trial.
• They spoke of the racial angle in the crime.
How do the psychologists help law
• Psychologists can use their skills to prepare witnesses for depositions
• Helping witnesses tell their stories
• Helping them overcome poor communication
• To manage their anxiety or low self esteem
• To draw psychological profiles of suspects
• To deal in hostage negotiation
• To testify in court cases
 For those in legal professions

• Knowledge of psychology is useful because the better a judge or

lawyer is able to understand and effectively deal with people, the
more successful he/she will be in arguing the case /pass sentences.
• Psychology tries to understand human behavior while law tries to
regulate human behavior.
Psychologists in the criminal
justice system
Our duties and responsibilities
• 1) What is the protocol to be followed if our client is found guilty of a crime? At which
stage are the family and police involved and when is the client informed that we will be
reporting them?

• 2) If the victim confesses about being abused/assaulted (domestic violence, sexual

assault, emotional and mental abuse of any kind, elder abuse) what do we do?

• 3) As therapists if we are to report a crime, for instance, domestic violence or any kind
of abuse, and the victim is refusing to press charges, what do we do? Is the therapist's
reporting of crime different from the client themselves wanting to report it? If our client
is against reporting the crime, do we as therapists cater to our client's wishes?

• 4) What if the client in question is a minor and violence/abuse is taking place against
them? what do we do if the minor doesn't want us to disclose this abuse to their
parents?
• 5) What if our client is under 18 and is committing a crime? Then what would
the protocol be?

• 6) What do we do as therapists if our client discloses that they committed a

crime/were victim of a crime several years ago?

• 7) Do hospitals and clinics in India give their clients an informed consent

form with rules and protocols regarding confidentiality breach. If not, would
you suggest it is a good practice to inculcate as aspiring therapists?

• 8) Could you please suggest a few resources we can turn to so that we have
an in-depth understanding regarding the protocol to be followed in such
cases and generally something that covers ethics in therapy in the Indian
context.
Psychologists have testified in
courts on issues of
• Insanity defense
• Brainwashing
• Criminal profiling
• Capital punishment
• Child custody
• Juvenile delinquency
• False confessions
• Allegations of sexual abuse
• Competence to stand trial
• School shooting
• Terrorism
Models of behavior – making and
unmaking of a criminal
• How Behavior Change Happens: Four Models
• Health Belief Model. The idealistic view of a crime – no one is a born
criminal. Everyone wants to avoid a life of crime.
• Theory of Planned Behavior. Crime has to be understood in a context
• Social Cognitive Learning Theory. Crime is through copying and
imitation. Can only be changed by a new copying.
• Stages of Change Theory - Stages through which the criminal goes in
leaving the crime.
• The influence of culture on health is vast. It affects perceptions of
health, illness and death, beliefs about causes of disease, approaches to
health promotion, how illness and pain are experienced and expressed,
where patients seek help, and the types of treatment patients prefer.
• The HBM derives from psychological and behavioral theory with the
foundation that the two components of health-related behavior are
• 1) the desire to avoid illness, or conversely get well if already ill
• 2) the belief that a specific health action will prevent, or cure, illness.
• That crime is an aberration , the natural tendency of everyone is to
avoid crime and everyone wants to come out of being a criminal.
 Theory of planned behavior
• Any behavior can be conceptualized in terms of four components:
• action (i.e., the specific act performed by an individual),
• target ( who or what the behavior is directed toward),
• context ( in what situation does the behavior occur),
• time (i.e., when the behavior occurs).
 Theory of planned behavior
• The theory of planned behavior (TPB) is a psychological theory that
links beliefs to behavior. The theory maintains that three core
components, namely, attitude, subjective norms, and perceived
behavioral control, together shape an individual's behavioral
intention.
theory of planned behavior
 Social cognitive learning theory
• The theory suggests that humans learn behaviors by observing others
and choosing which behaviors to imitate. Behaviors that are rewarded
are more likely to be repeated, whereas behaviors that are punished
are less likely to be repeated.
• Albert Bandura -As the creator of the concept of social learning
theory, Bandura proposes five essential steps in order for the learning
to take place: observation, attention, retention, reproduction, and
motivation.
Stages of change theory
Some of the important cases where psychologists
brought in changes in the courtroom
• Board vs Brown
• Scotts borough trial
• George Matasky – mad bomber case
• Prosenjit Poddar case
• Lee Harvey Oswald – formative years of an assassin
• Patricia Hearst – uncommon victim
• Dan White – the myth of the twinkle defense
• John Hinckley junior – the assassin
• Judas Priest
• USS Iowa
• Jeffrey Dahmer
• Woody Allen and Mia Furrow
• Gary and Holly Ramona – recovered memories or false allegations
• Mike Tyson – what makes a violent man?
What broader lessons can we learn from
these great cases in law and psychology?

• Psychologists and psychiatrists were once involved in only traditional

areas of law like criminal responsibility, competence to stand trial and
assessment of psychological harm.
• Now they are also involved with profiling suspects, predicting
dangerousness, assessing best interests of the child and psychological
autopsies.
Psychology is a ‘soft science’
• Expert psychological opinions are often in conflict.
• Conflicts are more likely because of genuine differences of opinion.
• Usually is reasonably objective.
• Competing psychological theories and opinions are scrutinized under
the close eye of judges, juries and public.
• It is recognized that reasonable experts from the same field can have
different opinions.
Relationship of psychology and legal
system
• Is not always harmonious.
• There are sometimes serious questions as to whether psychological
inputs have actually helped or hindered the justice system.
• Psychology has salutary influence on the way law resolves
complicated issues in dealing with human mind and behavior.
Many of the psychological issues in
law remain unresolved but
• Continue to command the attention of psychologists, courts, public and
media.
• Leading to continued and rapid growth in the role played by psychology
in the legal system.
• Issues like criminal profiling, mental illness and retardation, prediction of
dangerousness, psychological autopsy, child custody, reliability of eye
witness, confession, repressed memory evidence.
• Given the creativity of lawyers and courts in raising new claims and
defenses and growing stream of psychological research into legal issues,
there is a high possibility growth and expansion of psychology in law.
Do criminals change, reform or be
rehabilitated?

Perennial question before mankind

No approach conclusive
Buddha, Christ, Rama, Krishna all are supposed to have reformed criminals
Philosophy, Sociology, Biology, Psychology, Law have debated it.
Criminal behavior theories involve
three major theories.
Psychological
Biological
Social
Theories of change
• Biological Theories of Crime – Earliest theories of crime. Your body type, your physical structure decides your
crime.
• Cultural Transmission Theory - Cultural transmission is the process through which cultural elements, in the
form of attitudes, values, beliefs, and behavioral scripts, are passed onto and taught to individuals and
groups who later become criminals.
• Deterrence and Rational Choice Theory - Individuals will always make rational, cautious and logical decisions
is known as the rational choice theory. It assumes that people understand what the penalties for a crime are
and have good control over their actions. They think things through and make choices about their behavior
based on logic, not passion.
• Labeling Theory and Symbolic Interaction - Labeling theory proposes that deviance is socially constructed
through reaction instead of action. No behavior is inherently deviant on its own but is made deviant based
on the reaction of others.
• Psychological Theories - Psychological theories of crime look at individual factors, such as inadequate
socialization and negative early childhood experiences, that can result in criminal thinking patterns.
• Routine Activities Theory - Cohen and Felson (1979), emphasized that crime occurs when three elements
converge a motivated offender, a suitable target, the absence of a capable guardian.
• Self-Control Theory - The self-control theory of crime suggests that individuals who were ineffectually
parented before the age of ten develop less self-control than individuals of approximately the same age who
were raised with better parenting.
The theory of differential association
• Put forth by Edwin H. Sutherland
• Its is a learning theory
• Formulates the hypothesis that criminal behavior is learned in
association with those who have criminal attitudes and values, as
compared to associations with those who have noncriminal attitudes
and values.
• Was influential and led to Separation of jails and correctional homes
Functionalist theory of crime
• Functionalism is a structuralist theory of crime.
• It states that crime and deviance can only be explained by looking at
the way societies are organized hierarchically, that is, their higher and
social structures.
• Crime, according to Functionalist approach, is caused by society and
not by the individual.
Five philosophies of punishment

• There are five basic sentencing philosophies for those who break
criminal laws of a country .
• Retribution (tooth for a tooth. eye for an eye)
• Incapacitation ( create limitations or disability )
• Rehabilitation ( to optimize condition and maximize potential )
• Deterrence( through instilling doubt or fear of consequences )
• Restoration ( returning things to its original condition )
Key elements of change
• Certainty of punishment
• Celerity {swiftness } of punishment
• Severity of punishment
• Incremental steps in quick succession
• By making certain that the society thinks that the offences are not
going to go unpunished .
Retributive theory of punishment

• World over today the retributive theory is taking precedence over

other approaches
• Retributive justice is a theory of punishment that when an offender
breaks the law, justice requires that they suffer in return, and that the
response to a crime is proportional to the offence. ... However, the
judgment of whether a punishment is appropriately severe can vary
greatly across cultures and individuals.
Retributive theory of punishment

• Retribution or retributive justice is a theory of punishment which

asserts that the severity of punishment should be proportionate to
the wrongdoing committed.
• It is widely believed that imprisonment serves among others the
purpose of exacting retribution on an offender who has committed
wrongdoing against the victim.
 Restorative justice
• The needs of victims for information, validation, vindication, restitution,
testimony, safety and support are the starting points for justice.
• The safety of victims is an immediate priority.
• In restorative justice, a victim and offender talk to each other.
• It's also important that the victim is not further harmed by meeting the
offender.
• The victim gets to express how the crime has harmed them, while the
offender can explain what happened.
• The principles of restorative justice define crime as an injury and recognize the
need for actions to repair that injury.
• A commitment to involve all those affected in the response to crime.
Restorative justice
• Restorative justice has arisen out of various sources such as indigenous
• Practices by minorities
• A discontent with the justice system
• A need to meet the needs of victims.
• It is currently being applied in various areas from prison to schools to
child welfare issues. not available to all offenders, only those who have
admitted their crime but victims may reject the offer.
• Psychological harm may be brought to the victim if the criminal shows
no empathy towards them which may result in a lowered self esteem.
 Positivist theory in criminology

• The primary idea behind positivist criminology is that criminals are

born as such and not made into criminals
• It is the nature of the person, not nurture, that results in criminal
propensities.
• Moreover, the positive criminologist does not usually examine the
role of free will in criminal activity.
 Six types of punishment

• Capital punishment
• Imprisonment
• Probation
• Restitution
• Fine
• Community service.
Major theories of sentencing

• Retribution. It is the oldest of the rationales for punishment tracing its

root to ancient times . Bible, Sharia
• Deterrence. Deterrence is one of the several rationales of sentencing.
• General Deterrence – Nirbhaya
• Specific Deterrence – Jessica Lall
• Incapacitation – Castration
• Rehabilitation – Juvenile criminal in Nirbhaya
• Social, historical and racial approaches
People’s Values define what they want personally,

Morals define what the society around those people want for
them.

Certain behaviors are considered to be desirable by a given

society, while others are considered to be undesirable.
Morals
• Morals refers to generally accepted customs of conduct and
right living in a society, and to the individual's practice in relation
to these: the morals of our civilization.
Some Universal Morals
• Respect
• Family
• Adjusting and compromising
• Helping mentality
• Respecting religion
• Justice
• Honesty
• Never hurt anyone
• Theft
• Cultivate love for education
Values
• Values are the motive behind purposeful action. They are the
ends to which we act and come in many forms.
• Personal values are personal beliefs about right and wrong and
may or may not be considered moral.
• Cultural values are values accepted by religions or societies
and reflect what is important in each context.
Some Universal Values
• Loyalty
• Respect
• Action
• Ambition
• Compassion
• Resilience
• Risk
• Centeredness
• Self esteem
• Wisdom
Psychopathic personality
• Now included in Anti-social personality disorder
• Psychopathy describes a set of personality traits and behaviors
frequently associated with lack of emotional sensitivity and
empathy, impulsiveness, superficial charm and insensitivity to
punishing consequences.
Some traits of psychopaths
• Glibness / superficial charm
• Grandiose sense of self worth
• Need for stimulation / proneness to boredom
• Pathological lying
• Conning / manipulative
• Lack of remorse or guilt
• Shallow affect (i.e., reduced emotional responses)
• Callous / lack of empathy
• Parasitic lifestyle
• Poor behavioral controls
• Promiscuous sexual behavior
• Early behavioral problems
• Lack of realistic, long-term goals
• Impulsivity
• Irresponsibility
• Failure to accept responsibility for one's own actions
• Many short-term marital relationships
• Juvenile delinquency
• Revocation of conditional release (from prison)
• Criminal versatility (i.e., commits diverse types of crimes)
Relationship between ethics, morals
and values
• Ethics are moral codes that drive people to decide which is right
or wrong. This right or wrong can be related to a person or to a
collective group of individuals. Values are principles that are
unbiased and reflects the possessive virtue of a person
irrespective of ethical or unethical backgrounds.
Is there a universal right or wrong?
• The same action may be morally right in one society but be
morally wrong in another.
• For the ethical relativist, there are no universal moral standards
• Standards that can be universally applied to all peoples at all
times.
Laws of venture
• Venture is defined as to go on some sort of journey or to take a risk in
something. An example of venture is to start a new program involving
many new people. To put money into a business that might not be the
most profitable
• An example of venture is to become the country’s leading entrepreneur.
• Convince a group of people to join you in some activity and take on a
leadership role with them.
• Define the stakeholders and their involvement . Government, institutions
and individuals
• Start a movement to introduce a new idea or concept
• Ventures need to be started in good faith without trying to exploit
anyone or hurt anyone feelings.
• They need to include the sensitivities of the people.
• Race, gender, inclusivity are critical factors to define a new venture.
• The rights of individuals need to be defined clearly.
• Human rights violation should be kept in mind.
• A level playing field and healthy competition
• Need to define risks and culpability of who is starting the venture and
that of the entire team.
• Freedom of information act.
• Transparency is a must.
• Documentation should be done defining roles and responsibilities of
each stakeholder in the venture.
• There should be no misrepresentation of facts and figures in the
contract.
•
 Why laws for ventures?
• To maintain trust in the market
• To maintain ethical practices
• To not destroy the economy
• To prevent rivals from dishonest practices
Anti trust law and theory
• The objective of antitrust principle is to assure a competitive
economy,' based upon the belief that through transparent
competition ,the wants and needs will be satisfied for every member
of the society with the sacrifice of the least amount of resources.
• The documentation need to serve the above mentioned purpose