D. Canter: Psychology and Law: Bridging the Gap
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D. Canter: Psychology and Law: Bridging the Gap Katelyn Rinker 1
# Society for Police and Criminal Psychology 2019
A psychologist named Dr. David Canter decided to share his expert insights on offender profiling, which inspired him to write an uplifting book called Psychology and Law. His emotional book looks at the psychophysiology behind extreme punishments, such as time in prison. The goal of the book is to provide insights as to how the fields of psychology and criminology come together to understand the potential lies that offenders may tell to avoid punishment. The etiologies of criminal offenses will be discussed, along with the emotions and behaviors surrounding those possible deceptions. Methods of measuring mental illness will also be included in this manuscript, which are the same concepts that are mentioned in the book. Another topic of relevance to forensic psychologists that will be explored is the behavioral profiling of convicts. These topics are directly pulled from Dr. Canter’s exciting book that describes measurements for deception. The polygraph is an instrument used to measure psychophysiological responses. These physical indicators of deception can be useful at extracting a confession from a perpetrator, or confirming the story of a victim in some cases. The book promotes the fact that many countries use polygraphs in courtroom settings. These areas of the world include the UK, USA, Canada, and South Africa. Yet even with its widespread prevalence and popularity within the criminal justice system, the results from a polygraph are still highly controversial. Polygraphs are emphasized in the book because they involve bodily reactions to emotion and behavior. Psychology and Law explains that the polygraph measures respiration rate, blood pressure, and perspiration on the hands. Some people sweat when they are nervous or afraid, which can be due to fabricating a false story. Breathing quickens when an individual lies, in addition to their heart racing in their chest. And
* Katelyn Rinker [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, Washington State University, PO Box 641035, Pullman, WA 99164-1035, USA
blood pressure rises with the stress associated with criminal behavior, or punishment for heinous actions. The questions asked during a polygraph are plucked from psychological assessments. Two such assessments are called the Control Question Test and the Guilty Knowledge Test, which involve directly asking a suspect if they are aware of their wrongful behavior. The book states that the Control Question Test has an accuracy rate of 80 to 89%, yet the National Research Council is quite happy with these high numbers (Canter 2017). However, some personality disorders make polygraphs not effective forms of detecting lies, as they are unable to express anxiety for their crimes (Canter 2017). An experimental psychologist at Washington State University explains that this category of mental disorders includes Borderline, Histrionic, Narcissistic, Avoidant, Obsessive-Compulsive, Antisocial, and De
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