Legal psychology is a field focused on the application of psychological principles within the legal system and its interactions with individuals. Professionals in this area are involved in understanding, assessing, evaluating potential jurors, investigating crimes and crime scenes, conducting forensic investigations The term "legal psychology" distinguishes this practical branch of psychology from the more theory-oriented field of clinical psychology.
Together, legal psychology and forensic psychology form the field more generally recognized as "psychology and law". Following earlier efforts by psychologists to address legal issues, psychology and law became a field of study in the 1960s, though that originating concern has lessened over time. The multidisciplinary American Psychological Association's Division 41, the American Psychology–Law Society, is active with the goal of promoting the contributions of psychology to the understanding of law and legal systems through research; as well as providing education to psychologists in legal issues and providing education to legal personnel on psychological issues. Further, its mandate is to inform the psychological and legal communities, along with the general public, about current research, education, and services in the field of psychology and law. There are similar societies in Canada, Britain, and Europe.
The Canadian Psychological Association also serves as a multidisciplinary hub for psychologists and researchers to connect. Its annual conferences, held across Canada, promote new research and foster collaboration.
Legal psychologists typically earn between $33,891 to $121,931 annually. Salaries range depending on the sector of employment with most entry-level positions for individuals with a doctoral degree starting $60,000-$70,000/annually. Salaries for those with a Bachelor's Degree or Master's Degree typically start at $35,000-$40,000 .
Training and education Legal psychologists typically hold a PhD in some area of psychology (e.g., clinical psychology, social psychology, or cognitive psychology), and apply their knowledge of that field to the law. Although formal legal training (such as a JD or Master of Legal Studies degree) can be beneficial, most legal psychologists hold only the PhD. Based on the annual updates to the American Psychology and Law Society’s (APLS)American Psychology and Law Society’s (APLS) official resources, there has been an increase in the number of universities which offer specialized training in legal psychology. Additionally, students typically pursue an educational path focusing on psychology, criminology, and forensics in their undergraduate studies. Students may earn a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, Criminology, or Criminal Justice .
After completing the appropriate education with training and experience, these psychologist are eligible to apply for board certification from the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). This is typically required for most positions in the field .
Legal vs. forensic psychology For a time, all areas of law which applied psychological information were generally considered under the umbrella of legal psychology. Over time the field expanded so much that different areas of legal psychology had to be defined. Now, legal psychology is considered to refer to the application of research to law enforcement and the justice system to inform its officers of new research, to develop more evidence-based procedures, and to conduct quality assessments of offender programs.
Forensic psychology has developed into its own field which focuses on the offenders and victims of the crime in question. Traditionally, forensic psychology is based in clinical psychology and focuses on the assessment of mental illness, competency, and Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder (NCRMD)/insanity defense. It has been thought that in America psychologists have been used as expert witnesses in court testimonies since the early 1920s. However, it was expected that only a medical doctor would have the expertise to assess and diagnose an individual with incompetency to stand trial or accept a sentence.3 Irving Weiner; Randy Otto (2013). The Handbook of Forensic Psychology, 4th Edition. While the field has widened, this is still generally the case.
Forensic psychological studies in the social psychological explanations for crime and offender motivations have led to the development of (evidence-based) offender profiling. The profiling of criminals, and its application, are not new concepts. Since the 1700s the studies of phrenology have attempted to track physical or behavioural actions to brain functioning and personality traits.Encyclopedia Britannica, October 9, 2024. This practice was very popular (despite its flaws and racist tendencies) and remains popular as shown by its presence in media, (i.e., tv shows like Criminal minds). The benefit of evidence-based practices helps ensure that bias and interpersonal connections do not influence whom law enforcement views as a threat to community safety.
Recent academic programs for legal psychology have combined the application of research to existing structures and moved away from only allowing clinical psychologists to speak as experts in forensic psychological matters as researchers have also become experts in their fields.
Areas of research Any research that combines psychological principles with legal applications or contexts could be considered legal psychology.
Common areas of research in legal psychology include (but are not limited to),
Understanding Jury decision makingCurley, L. J., Munro, J., & Dror, I. E. (2022). Cognitive and human factors in legal layperson decision making: Sources of bias in juror decision making. Medicine, Science and the Law. DOI Understanding Judges’ decision makingBarry, B.M. (2020). How Judges Judge: Empirical Insights into Judicial Decision-Making (1st ed.). Informa Law from Routledge. Testing the validity of eyewitness statements and identificationsWixted, JT, Mickes, L., & Fisher, RP. (2018). Rethinking the Reliability of Eyewitness Memory. Perspectives on Psychological Science, Vol. 13(3) 324–335. https://doi-org.library.smu.ca/10.1177/1745691617734878 Understanding the motivations and obstacles faced by offendersSteele, RH (2016) How offenders make decisions. British Journal of Community Justice, 13 (3). pp. 7-20.
Berg MT & Felson RB. Why are offenders victimized so often? In The Wiley Handbook on the Psychology of Violence, EDs Cuevas, CA. RennisonCM.
Farrall, S., & Knott, C. (2013). Rethinking what works with offenders. Willan. Understanding how an offender reacts psychologically to law enforcement and incarcerationCunha, O., Castro Rodrigues, A., Caridade, S. et al. The impact of imprisonment on individuals’ mental health and society reintegration: study protocol. BMC Psychol 11, 215 (2023). Testing the efficacy of treatment programsGannon et al. (2019). The use of testimonies made by children How influenced are children’s testimonies by external forces? (ie., coaching)
These areas of legal interest are supported by general psychological research into,
The decision-making skills of adults, individually or in groups Human perceptions and memory under stress Recollection of memories over time Peer pressure, group dynamics, and community expectations Adult psychology Assessment of program quality and post-release behaviour Developmental psychology
The connection between the original psychology research and its use in the justice system is important to remember lest experts develop tunnel vision. For instance, to understand eyewitness memory, a psychologist should be concerned with memory processes as a whole, instead of only the aspects relevant to the law (e.g., lineups, accuracy of testimony). To understand false confessions, a psychologist should be familiar with research on decision making, compliance, obedience, persuasion, and other forms of social influence.
For a time, legal psychology researchers were primarily focused on issues related to eyewitness testimony and jury decision-making—so much so that the editor of Law and Human Behavior, a leading legal psychology journal, implored researchers to expand the scope of their research and move on to other areas.
Legal psychology journals and associations There are several legal psychology journals, including Law and Human Behavior, Psychology, Public Policy and Law, Psychology, Crime & Law, and Journal of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law that focus on general topics of criminology, and the criminal justice system. In addition, research by legal psychologists is regularly published in more general journals that cover both basic and applied research areas. The Online Jury Research Update (OJRU) regularly summarizes legal psychology research about legal persuasion, jury research and trial advocacy.
Roles of a legal psychologist
Academics and research Many legal psychologists work as professors in university psychology departments, criminal justice departments or law schools. Like other professors, legal psychologists generally conduct and publish empirical research, teach various classes, and mentor graduate and undergraduate students. Many legal psychologists also conduct research in a more general area of psychology (e.g., social, clinical, cognitive) with only a tangential legal focus. Those legal psychologists who work in law schools almost always hold a JD in addition to a PhD.
Academics and researchers make up a significant amount of the psychologists involved today with applying psychology to legal contexts. While many think of clinical psychology as the main form of psychology in the law, however the utility of psychology, including applications of social, developmental, and neurological psychology has given significant amount of evidence-based methods to support a fair, proper, and humane justice system.
The application of psychological knowledge and principles of evidence-based care are significant to maintaining fairness and integrity across the criminal justice system.
Amicus briefs One method that psychologists and researchers use to provide best practices to the justice system is through amicus briefs (defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as “a legal document supplied to a court of law containing advice or information relating to a case from a person or organization that is not directly involved in the case”. Psychologists can provide an amicus brief to the court. The amicus brief usually contains an opinion backed by scientific citations and statistics. The American Psychological Association has provided briefs concerning mental illness, intellectual or physical disability, and other factors. The rise in qualitative research methods has allowed these briefs to be more detailed with thorough explanations, compared to many of the older briefs which are based completely on statistics.
Advisory roles Legal psychologists may hold advisory roles in court systems. They may advise legal decision makers, particularly judges, on psychological findings pertaining to issues in a case. The psychologist who acts as a court adviser provides similar input to one acting as an expert witness, but acts out of the domain of an adversarial system.See, e.g., Court Appointed Scientific Expert Program Archived 2[EG1] 008-02-29 at the Wayback Machine, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Juror selection Juror selection is an area in which legal psychology is often used. Lawyers might use evidence-based methods of questioning, or might hire psychologists to review the jurors themselves. Psychologists working as consultants work on all stages of a case from helping to organize testimony, preparing witnesses to testify, picking juries, and even arranging "shadow jurors" to watch the trial unfold and provide input on the trial.