PSY 344 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1.3: Psychological Evaluation, Kurt Lewin, Mental Disorder
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Law: legal systems are studied by several traditional disciplines other than psychology. For example, anthropologists compare laws (and mechanism for instituting and altering laws) in different societies. Sociologist may study the role that social class plays in criminal behavior. This approach tires to predict and explain social behavior by focusing on groups of people rather than on individuals: a psychology approach to the law emphasizes its human determinants. The focus in the psychological approach is on the individual as the unit of analysis. Individuals are seen as responsible for their own conduct and as contributing to its causation. Psychology examines the thoughts and actions of individuals like drug abusers, petty thieves, police officers, victims, juries, expert witnesses, layers, judges etc. etc. Basically studies all of the people involved in the legal system. The setting in which they operate matters as well: kurt lewin, founder of social psych, proposed the equation b=f(p,e)
