“This collection is a gem! It unmasks the fallacies on race and gender that pass for ‘common sense’ so skillfully that it is hard to read without shouting ‘Aha!'”
–Nancy Cantor, Chancellor and President, Syracuse University
“This is a timely and extremely interesting analysis of the many ways in which psychological science can contribute to a more accurate understanding of various psychological issues often raised in legal proceedings. This book will be useful, and a very good read, for the general public as well as the psychological and legal communities.”
–Sharon S. Brehm, Indiana University Bloomington, President of the American Psychological Association (2007)
“This book is an indispensable guide―for scholars and practitioners alike―to the psychological science of the legal system. Its pages are filled with important, hard-won lessons that we can turn to our advantage or ignore at our peril.”
–Daniel Gilbert, Harvard University
“The legal system is also a system of perception, emotion, interpersonal relations, and judgment. It is thus crucial that lawyers, social scientists and indeed the broader public understand its psychological dimensions. This volume assembles key examples of the recent strides psychologists have made in understanding courtroom processes and the psychosocial dimensions that shape how law works in a variety of settings from workplaces to the media. It will be a vital resource for both professionals and students.”
–Craig Calhoun, President, Social Science Research Council
“Incrementally, chapter by chapter, this world-class collection of scholars and researchers upends our common sense understandings of human prejudice and the law’s ability to control it. Yet, just as importantly, it brings to the fore a vastly deeper understanding of these issues. It is more than a state of the art collection. It is a classic collection that, for a long time, will be indispensable to discussions of prejudice and the law, as well as the relationship between science and the public good.”
–Claude M. Steele, Stanford University
From the Inside Flap
Psychological science challenges and sometimes contradicts common sense ideas about stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, and other behavioral domains that intersect with legal processes such as eyewitness identification, repressed memories, polygraph testing, and affirmative action. Beyond Common Sense confronts the public’s often erroneous beliefs about human behavior in legal contexts like the courtroom. Featuring original chapters written by leading experts in psychological science, each chapter identifies areas of scientific agreement and disagreement and discusses how psychological science advances an understanding of human behavior beyond what is accessible by common sense and intuitive beliefs. The book concludes with commentaries written by leading social science and law scholars that discuss key legal and scientific themes and illustrate how psychological science is, or can be, used in the courts and in other policy contexts.
From the Back Cover
Psychological science challenges and sometimes contradicts common sense ideas about stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, and other behavioral domains that intersect with legal processes such as eyewitness identification, repressed memories, polygraph testing, and affirmative action. Beyond Common Sense confronts the public’s often erroneous beliefs about human behavior in legal contexts like the courtroom. Featuring original chapters written by leading experts in psychological science, each chapter identifies areas of scientific agreement and disagreement and discusses how psychological science advances an understanding of human behavior beyond what is accessible by common sense and intuitive beliefs. The book concludes with commentaries written by leading social science and law scholars that discuss key legal and scientific themes and illustrate how psychological science is, or can be, used in the courts and in other policy contexts.
About the Author
Eugene Borgida is Professor of Psychology and Law at the University of Minnesota and Morse-Alumni Distinguished Professor of Psychology. He is also co-author of the forthcoming book, The Political Psychology of Democratic Citizenship (with John L. Sullivan and Christopher Federico).
Susan T. Fiske is Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology at Princeton University. Her publications include Social Cognition: From Brains to Culture (with Shelley Taylor, 2008) and Social Beings: A Core Motives Approach to Social Psychology (2004).
Wow! eBook
