Policing As Social Discipline
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to gain a full understanding of the complexity of witness testimony. This is reflected in the ordering of the three sections of the book, starting with psychological perspectives, before moving on to investigative processes and finally to evidential issues. However, chapters could be dipped into independently in order to refresh oneself on a certain topic. The section on psychological perspectives at the start of the book gives readers information on the basic processes of memory, before moving on to what psychological factors may influence these processes. Once this essential knowledge is established, the impact of investigative processes used to obtain and collate testimony is considered in more detail. Covering a variety of techniques used in practice, including the ‘cognitive interview’, hypnosis, identification parades and earwitness testimony, it allows factors that can lead to inaccurate recall to be identified. This knowledge, along with suggestions as to what practices produce accurate testimony, is then taken into the third and final section. Under the heading of ‘Evidential Issues’, this section applies the lessons learnt from the preceding sections to the court setting. It also tackles a number of problems that arise from doing so, including issues relating to expert testimony from forensic psychologists and psychiatrists. The necessity for both criminal justice practitioners (lawyers, solicitors, judges) and those forensic psychologists and psychiatrists who work within a legal setting to have an awareness of the other’s contribution to the criminal justice system is also highlighted. Overall, in terms of what this book covers, the need for individuals employed in judging the accuracy of witness testimony to draw upon research from both psychology and law is what comes across most clearly. As such, the material presented provides an invaluable starting point for anyone wishing to acquaint themselves with the current state of research and practice. Emma J. Palmer Department of Psychology University of Leicester
Policing As Social Discipline By Satnam Choongh Oxford: Clarendon Press (1997) ISBN 0-19-826478-X (192 pages, £35.00)
Reviewed by Chris Crowther On the basis of his DPhil thesis, Satnam Choongh has written a provocative analysis of the difficulties involved in striking a balance between police powers and the rights of suspects. Choongh uncontroversially suggests that some of the ways in which the police interrogate suspects are incompatible with the main principles of an adversarial criminal justice system. However, more contentiously, he argues that certain police practices do not fit with either ‘crime control’ or ‘due process’ models of justice, but with a ‘social disciplinary’ model instead. The latter refers to those extra-legal and illegal police activities which are not concerned with crime control, but primarily with imposing their power and authority over ‘“police property” … the “dross” … so that they can be taught the norms of the police-policed relationship’ (p 238). The book explor
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