Lawyers' Perception of Psychologists who do Forensic Work
Document Type
Journal Article
Publisher
South African Bureau for Scientific Publications
Faculty
Faculty of Computing, Health and Science
School
School of Psychology
RAS ID
171
Abstract
In South Africa there is a lack of empirical data regarding the quality of the testimony of psychologists. In order to fill this gap, 252 South African lawyers were surveyed to determine their perception of the value of the testimony of psychologists, and of psychologists' knowledge, conduct, and adherence to the rules of expert testimony. For the purpose of comparison a group of 75 psychologists who do forensic work, were also surveyed. The findings was that lawyers generally did not believe that the potential value, or actual contribution, of psychological testimony was high. Their ratings of the actual knowledge of psychologists were significantly lower than their expectations in this regard. However, they rated the conduct and adherence of psychologists to the rules of expert testimony as satisfactory. The implications of these findings are discussed
Comments
Allan, A. , & Louw, D. (2001). Lawyers' perception of psychologists who do forensic work. South African Journal of Psychology, 31, 12-20. Available here