Education Shapes Future Legal Practitioners' Evaluation of Legal Cases

Fabiana Battista; Tamara L. F. De Beuf

doi:10.1080/24732850.2024.2323485

Education Shapes Future Legal Practitioners' Evaluation of Legal Cases

Fabiana Battista^*, Tamara L. F. De Beuf

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

People oftentimes have misconceptions related to different legal psychological phenomena. These misconceptions can be potentially deleterious when they influence legal decisions. We examined whether these beliefs can be corrected with education. In Study 1, participants provided their agreement for statements related to four case vignettes about different kinds of psychology and law phenomena. Participants were also asked to write the reasons why they provided such an evaluation. In Study 2, we added one additional case vignette. Students improved their beliefs and knowledge concerning the majority of the investigated legal psychological topics after attending the course, except for the evaluation of recidivism risk. Our findings encourage the introduction of courses in legal psychology for students who will become legal practitioners.

Original language	English
Number of pages	32
Journal	Journal of Forensic Psychology Research and Practice
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/24732850.2024.2323485
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 13 Mar 2024

Keywords

Memory beliefs
correcting beliefs
case-vignettes
legal practitioners
I SAW ONE
TRAUMATIC MEMORIES
LAW-ENFORCEMENT
FALSE DENIALS
COMMON-SENSE
CONFESSIONS
BELIEFS
MISINFORMATION
INFORMATION
AMNESIA

Access to Document

10.1080/24732850.2024.2323485

Cite this

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title = "Education Shapes Future Legal Practitioners' Evaluation of Legal Cases",

abstract = "People oftentimes have misconceptions related to different legal psychological phenomena. These misconceptions can be potentially deleterious when they influence legal decisions. We examined whether these beliefs can be corrected with education. In Study 1, participants provided their agreement for statements related to four case vignettes about different kinds of psychology and law phenomena. Participants were also asked to write the reasons why they provided such an evaluation. In Study 2, we added one additional case vignette. Students improved their beliefs and knowledge concerning the majority of the investigated legal psychological topics after attending the course, except for the evaluation of recidivism risk. Our findings encourage the introduction of courses in legal psychology for students who will become legal practitioners.",

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author = "Fabiana Battista and {De Beuf}, {Tamara L. F.}",

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AU - De Beuf, Tamara L. F.

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KW - TRAUMATIC MEMORIES

KW - LAW-ENFORCEMENT

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KW - CONFESSIONS

KW - BELIEFS

KW - MISINFORMATION

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