Editor’s introduction to the articles composing the symposium issues (both issues 1 and 2 of volume 69), which focus on law and psychology

Ogloff, James R. P.

English

UNL | Libraries

Nebraska Law Review
Volume 69 | Issue 1 Article 2
1990
Law and Psychology in the 1990s: The Broadening
of the Discipline
James R. P. Ogloff
University of Nebraska College of Law, jogloff@swin.edu.au
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law, College of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been
accepted for inclusion in Nebraska Law Review by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.
Recommended Citation
James R. P. Ogloff, Law and Psychology in the 1990s: The Broadening of the Discipline, 69 Neb. L. Rev. (1990)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr/vol69/iss1/2
Law and Psychology in the 1990s:
The Broadening of the Discipline
Psycholegal scholars, and others who work in psychology and law,
know well the curious look that comes over the face of people when
we mention that we work in the area of psychology and law. Indeed,
we have become accustomed to being asked how law and psychology
could possibly be related.1 This question occasionally causes us to be
somewhat frustrated simply because it seems so obvious to us how in-
timately related the two areas really are. Somewhat ironically, the
familiarity that psycholegal scholars have with the field of law/psy-
chology may account for one of the most significant criticisms of the
area. Indeed, law/psychologists often have been accused of being my-
opic; focusing on a rather narrow range of topics. 2 Thus, the "clear
vision" that many of us believe we have of law/psychology may simply
be a product of the difficulty we have stepping back and seeing the big
picture - realizing the wide potential for law/psychology research.
Areas that have previously fallen within the spectrum of psychole-
gal scholarship generally include: forensic psychology, criminal jus-
tice system research, social psychology and law, and legislative and
policy change.3 Following his first year as editor of Law and Human
Behavior, Michael Saks expressed his discontent that the field of law
and psychology was narrowly focused on topics such as eyewitness tes-
timony and jury research.4 In noting that the "usefulness" of
psycholegal scholars is necessarily limited by the array of topics they
explore, Saks invited researchers to expand their horizons and to fo-
cus on other areas within the law. Although only four years have
passed since Saks' warning - and invitation - the areas being ex-
plored by psycholegal scholars appear to be expanding at a rapid rate.
1. The simplest answer to this query is that while all laws are made to regulate
human behavior, psychologists study human behavior and are, therefore, able to
investigate the efficacy of laws. See Hafemeister, Ogloff, & Small, Training and
Careers in Law and Psychology: The Perspective of Students and Graduates of
Dual Degree Programs, 8 BEHAv. Sci. & L. 263 (1990); Sales, The Legal Regulation
of Psychology: Scientifc and Professional Interactions, in PSYCHOLOGY AND THE
LAW (C. James Scheirer & B. L. Hammonds eds. 1983).
2. See, eg., Ogloff, Law and Psychology in Canada. The Need for Training and Re-
search, 31 CAN. PSYCHOLOGY 61 (1990); Saks, The Law Does Not Live By Eyewit-
ness Testimony Alone, 10 LAw & Hum. BAHAv. 279 (1986).
3. For a brief overview of the areas of law and psychology, see Ogloff, supra note 2.
4. Saks, supra note 2.
NEBRASKA LAW REVIEW
A glance through the table of contents of these two issues of the sym-
posium on "Law and Psychology" will attest to that fact.
It is only fitting that the Nebraska Law Review should be the first
mainstream law review to publish symposia issues on law and psychol-
ogy. Indeed, it is at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln that the inte-
grated law-psychology (law/psychology) training model established its
roots. Once it was decided to devote this year's symposium issue to
law and psychology,5 the question was on what specific topics to focus
the issue. Those of us involved in developing the symposium issue de-
cided to keep the choice of topics as broad as possible in order to
demonstrate the wide array of areas that psycholegal scholars are now
exploring. The articles presented in these two symposia issues are a
good representation of the current state of law and psychology - as
well as the directions in which it may move in the future. It is our
hope that the articles published in these issues will serve both as an
example of the kind of work psycholegal scholars perform and as a
source of information from which future work will flow.
James R. P. Ogloff, J.D., Ph.D.
Symposium Editor, 1989
5. The idea for the symposium issue on law and psychology was initiated by fellow
law/psychology student, Mark Small and my predecessor as Symposium Editor,
Vicki Rugha. Initially, we had planned to devote one issue to the topic of law and
psychology. It was only after receiving a resounding response to the issue that we
decided to expand the symposium to two issues.
[Vol. 69:1


Law and Psychology in the 1990s: The Broadening of the Discipline

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

Nebraska Law ReviewVolume 69 | Issue 1 Article 21990Law and Psychology in the 1990s: The Broadeningof the DisciplineJames R. P. OgloffUniversity of Nebraska College of Law, jogloff@swin.edu.auFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlrThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law, College of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has beenaccepted for inclusion in Nebraska Law Review by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.Recommended CitationJames R. P. Ogloff, Law and Psychology in the 1990s: The Broadening of the Discipline, 69 Neb. L. Rev. (1990)Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr/vol69/iss1/2Law and Psychology in the 1990s:The Broadening of the DisciplinePsycholegal scholars, and others who work in psychology and law,know well the curious look that comes over the face of people whenwe mention that we work in the area of psychology and law. Indeed,we have become accustomed to being asked how law and psychologycould possibly be related.1 This question occasionally causes us to besomewhat frustrated simply because it seems so obvious to us how in-timately related the two areas really are. Somewhat ironically, thefamiliarity that psycholegal scholars have with the field of law/psy-chology may account for one of the most significant criticisms of thearea. Indeed, law/psychologists often have been accused of being my-opic; focusing on a rather narrow range of topics. 2 Thus, the "clearvision" that many of us believe we have of law/psychology may simplybe a product of the difficulty we have stepping back and seeing the bigpicture - realizing the wide potential for law/psychology research.Areas that have previously fallen within the spectrum of psychole-gal scholarship generally include: forensic psychology, criminal jus-tice system research, social psychology and law, and legislative andpolicy change.3 Following his first year as editor of Law and HumanBehavior, Michael Saks expressed his discontent that the field of lawand psychology was narrowly focused on topics such as eyewitness tes-timony and jury research.4 In noting that the "usefulness" ofpsycholegal scholars is necessarily limited by the array of topics theyexplore, Saks invited researchers to expand their horizons and to fo-cus on other areas within the law. Although only four years havepassed since Saks' warning - and invitation - the areas being ex-plored by psycholegal scholars appear to be expanding at a rapid rate.1. The simplest answer to this query is that while all laws are made to regulatehuman behavior, psychologists study human behavior and are, therefore, able toinvestigate the efficacy of laws. See Hafemeister, Ogloff, & Small, Training andCareers in Law and Psychology: The Perspective of Students and Graduates ofDual Degree Programs, 8 BEHAv. Sci. & L. 263 (1990); Sales, The Legal Regulationof Psychology: Scientifc and Professional Interactions, in PSYCHOLOGY AND THELAW (C. James Scheirer & B. L. Hammonds eds. 1983).2. See, eg., Ogloff, Law and Psychology in Canada. The Need for Training and Re-search, 31 CAN. PSYCHOLOGY 61 (1990); Saks, The Law Does Not Live By Eyewit-ness Testimony Alone, 10 LAw & Hum. BAHAv. 279 (1986).3. For a brief overview of the areas of law and psychology, see Ogloff, supra note 2.4. Saks, supra note 2.NEBRASKA LAW REVIEWA glance through the table of contents of these two issues of the sym-posium on "Law and Psychology" will attest to that fact.It is only fitting that the Nebraska Law Review should be the firstmainstream law review to publish symposia issues on law and psychol-ogy. Indeed, it is at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln that the inte-grated law-psychology (law/psychology) training model established itsroots. Once it was decided to devote this year's symposium issue tolaw and psychology,5 the question was on what specific topics to focusthe issue. Those of us involved in developing the symposium issue de-cided to keep the choice of topics as broad as possible in order todemonstrate the wide array of areas that psycholegal scholars are nowexploring. The articles presented in these two symposia issues are agood representation of the current state of law and psychology - aswell as the directions in which it may move in the future. It is ourhope that the articles published in these issues will serve both as anexample of the kind of work psycholegal scholars perform and as asource of information from which future work will flow.James R. P. Ogloff, J.D., Ph.D.Symposium Editor, 19895. The idea for the symposium issue on law and psychology was initiated by fellowlaw/psychology student, Mark Small and my predecessor as Symposium Editor,Vicki Rugha. Initially, we had planned to devote one issue to the topic of law andpsychology. It was only after receiving a resounding response to the issue that wedecided to expand the symposium to two issues.[Vol. 69:1

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1740&context=nlr

Law and Psychology in the 1990s: The Broadening of the Discipline

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

UNL | Libraries

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska