Psychological science is applied to legal questions because the law is fundamentally about people—how they think, feel, and behave. Psychology offers systematic methods to understand and explain human behavior, which helps the legal system make more accurate, fair, and effective decisions.
Some key reasons include:
- Understanding behavior: Courts and juries often need to evaluate why people act the way they do (e.g., criminal intent, eyewitness testimony, memory reliability). Psychology provides evidence-based insight into these questions.
- Improving legal processes: Research shows, for example, that eyewitness memory is fallible and that certain interrogation techniques can produce false confessions. Applying psychology helps refine procedures to reduce errors.
- Assessing individuals: Psychologists assess competence to stand trial, risk of reoffending, mental state at the time of an offense, and treatment needs—issues directly tied to justice.
- Policy and law development: Psychological findings inform how laws are written and enforced (e.g., understanding adolescent brain development has influenced juvenile justice policies).
- Promoting fairness: Psychology helps identify biases in judges, juries, and legal procedures, supporting a more equitable justice system.
In short, psychology brings scientific knowledge about the mind and behavior into the legal arena, where decisions often hinge on questions about human thought, memory, emotion, and action.
Shervan K Shahhian
LIBERTY PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION 