Product Description

This book is a broad introduction to the field of forensic psychology. It is written by one of the best known authors in the field, Curt Bartol. While students most often associate forensic psychology with criminal profiling, crime scene investigations, and serial murder, this text covers the many others areas where psychology has played a significant role in providing research knowledge to the civil and criminal justice systems. The book is a readable summary of contemporary research and practice across a broad spectrum of topics. Practical applications are discussed where pertinent, and case law discussions are found throughout the text. This book is likely to capitalize on the growing interest, both in popular media and in University departments where enrollments have been increasing steadily over the past several years.

· Comprehensive - This text covers a broad specturm of topics, articulately distinguishes between the different fields of Forensic Psychology for an audience with limited exposure to psychology, and introduces students to the field with a variety of contemporary examples throughout.

· Writing Style: Very accessible for undergraduate students, especially. Reviewers of the manuscript uniformly praised the book's readability while maintaining a scholarly level of coverage.

· Insert Boxes - The Insert boxes illustrate the main points of the narrative through overviews of specific criminal justice case studies, as well as examples of criminal profiles, career possibilities, legal standards of proof, legal guidelines for investigations, and ethical guidelines for research and applications. Overall, these boxes have been designed to be a substantive, rather than add-on, part of the text and are likely to spark debate and discussion in the classroom.

· Chapter Summaries - The chapter summaries provide a succinct overview of the material covered in each of the chapters.

· End-of-chapter discussion questions and key concept lists will help students review the chapter material.

· The authors, Curt and Anne Bartol, have many years of combined experience in the Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice field in the classroom, as practioners, and as successful authors and researchers. Curt is the longtime editor of the journal, Criminal Justice and Behavior, along with Criminal Behavior 6/e, the top-selling textbook in that area. (20031015)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #831015 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 520 pages

Review
“Perhaps the highest compliment I can offer is that I have been teaching this course for 15 years but learned a good deal of new information. . . . The book is scholarly, well written, interesting, and of appropriate length and depth for a survey class.” (Dr. Mike Aamodt, Radford University 20031015)

“The text is very good overall. In addition, any points I usually have to remember to discuss because they are not covered in my current texts, are covered well in this book. . . . Students want to know how certain offenders differ from non-offenders and other types of offenders. The authors speak to this desire for knowledge, while freely admitting the limits of the field's knowledge. Well done!” (Dr. Kelly Goodness )

About the Author
Anne M. Bartol earned an MA and a PhD in Criminal Justice from State University of New York at Albany. She also holds an MA in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has taught criminal justice, sociology, and journalism courses over a 20-year college teaching career, primarily at Castleton State College, and has worked as a journalist and a social worker in child and adolescent protective services. In addition to Introduction to Forensic Psychology, she coauthored, with Curt Bartol, Juvenile Delinquency: A Systems Approach, Delinquency and Justice: A Psychosocial Approach (2nd edition), and Psychology and Law: Theory, Research, and Application (3rd edition). She has served as book review editor of Criminal Justice and Behavior and has published articles on women and criminal justice, rural courts, and the history of forensic psychology.

Curt R. Bartol has been a college professor for more than 30 years, teaching a wide variety of both undergraduate and graduate courses, including biopsychology, criminal behavior, juvenile delinquency, introduction to forensic psychology, social psychology, and psychology and law. He earned his PhD in Personality/Social Psychology from Northern Illinois University in 1972. He was instrumental in creating and launching Castleton State College's graduate program in Forensic Psychology and served as its Director for 6 years. As a licensed clinical psychologist, he has been a consulting police psychologist to local, municipal, state, and federal law enforcement agencies for nearly 25 years. He is also the Editor of Criminal Justice and Behavior, the international journal of the American Association for Correctional Psychologists.

In addition to Introduction to Forensic Psychology, he has written Criminal Behavior: A Psychosocial Approach, now in its sixth edition, and coauthored, with Anne Bartol, Juvenile Delinquency: A Systems Approach, Delinquency and Justice: A Psychosocial Approach (2nd edition), and Psychology and Law: Theory, Research, and Application (3rd edition). He has published extensively in the field of forensic psychology.