The Police Lineup: One at A Time or All Together?

In a traditional lineup five or six people, including the police´s main suspect stand side by side while a witness looks on usually via a one-way mirror to see if they can identify anybody connected with the crime under investigation.

This traditional approach has long been considered unreliable and there many cases of criminal convictions being overturned through DNA evidence where the original conviction was secured mainly as a result of what was subsequently shown to be a flawed lineup identification.

In response to the problems associated with the traditional lineup, pioneering researchers such as Gary Wells spent years developing, researching and testing new lineup procedures. The two major advancements to arise from this thirty year research agenda were The Sequential Lineup, whereby witnesses view suspects one at a time rather than simultaneously; and Double-Blind Techniques whereby the person responsible for the lineup does not know who the real suspect is.

In March 2006, however, a study of an Illinois pilot program, also known as The Mecklenburg Report turned conventional wisdom on its head by claiming that sequential lineups actually result in more false identifications than traditional lineups.

Decide For Yourself

You can read the Illinois Mecklenburg report in full by Clicking Here

A panel of social scientists, including Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman of Princeton and Harvard Professor Daniel Schachter convened by the Center for Modern Forensic Practice of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the Illinois Eyewitness Identification Field Study, which challenged 30 years of academic research into eyewitness identification procedures, was crippled by a design flaw that made the study's conclusions a dangerous basis for shaping public policy.

These concerns were published in the July 2007 issue of Law and Human Behavior, which you can read in full by Clicking Here

More Information

Click Here to learn more about the pioneering work of Professor Gary L. Wells

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The Unabomber and the Zodiac (One & The Same?)

I listened to a fascinating interview with Douglas Evander Oswell who has spent over 10 years researching the methods, motives, psychological attributes and connection between the Unabomber and the Zodiac. As Oswell notes:

"In the spring of 1995, as accounts of the yet-uncaptured Unabomber began to filter through the media, I immediately noticed a distinct set of similarities between the methods and motives of the Unabomber and the Zodiac. One year later, the arrest of Theodore Kaczynski and the consequent flood of information pertaining to his past, did nothing to allay my growing suspicion that Kaczynski may have actually committed the crimes of Zodiac."

During the interview Oswell provides an overview of the Zodiac case and the unabomber case, he outlines the striking connections between the two cases and he discusses the distinction between serial killers, recreational killers and mass murderers.

Listen To The Interview



Click Here to download the MP3 file and listen to the interview in full.

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Related Media

Zodiac Trailer:



The Unabomber:

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Related Reading

The Unabomber and the Zodiac By Douglas Evander Oswell



Book Description

The Zodiac Killer murdered five people between December of 1968 and October of 1969. The murders were followed by letters to the news media demanding publication of his threats and other written material, on pain of further killings. As the Unabomber, Theodore Kaczynski murdered three people and injured many more, over a period beginning in May of 1978 and continuing through April of 1995. His murders were followed by letters to the news media demanding publication of the letters themselves, and the so-called "Manifesto," on pain of further killings. Their methods were different, but their madness was the same. This book highlights the amazing similarities between Kaczynski and the Zodiac, the two most enigmatic and cerebral killers in U.S. history.

Click Here For More Details & Reviews

Visitors From The UK Click Here

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www.all-about-forensic-psychology.com

A Free & Comprehensive Guide to The World of Forensic Psychology

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The Depravity Scale

Last month I posted an item on the Depravity scale research project. The Depravity Scale aims to establish societal standards of what makes a crime depraved, and to develop a standardized instrument based on specific characteristics of a crime that must be proven in order to merit more severe sentences.

The Washington Post recently published a detailed article on the Depravity Scale and the issues surrounding it, which you can read in full by Clicking Here (Many thanks to Ginger for letting me know about the article).

If you would like to take part in the research project, the web-based research survey only takes about 15 minutes to complete. All of your responses are kept confidential and no personal information is ever released.

Click Here To Participate

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Inside The Mind of A Psychopath

Photo Credit: Kenchanayo

Inside The Mind of A Psychopath is the title of an informative podcast that recently aired on Quirks & Quarks, the award-winning radio science program produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Among the range of issues discussed, Daemon Fearless explores what makes a psychopath, and how we might treat them.

You can listen to the podcast by Clicking Here

More information:

For more detailed information on this fascinating topic, check out 'The Psychopath: Separating fact from fiction' page on The All About Forensic Psychology Website. You can access the psychopath page by Clicking Here

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Forensic Psychology Book of The Month (July)

The Criminal Mind: A Writer's Guide to Forensic Psychology by Katherine Ramsland



Editorial Review by David Pitt From Booklist

An extremely informative, very useful guide to understanding and writing about forensic psychology. Many writers, the author suggests, write about forensic psychologists without really appreciating what they do or how they do it. The author cites numerous examples from fiction to illustrate her points, showing how Thomas Harris made things seem a little too slick in The Silence of the Lambs or how James Patterson misunderstood some fundamentals in Along Came a Spider. She also uses several well-known cases histories; Charles Starkweather, Lizzie Borden, Dan White, to illustrate various psychological disorders and their diagnoses.

Aspiring thriller writers should pay particular attention to the discussion of the relationship between psychology and the law, including the nature of insanity defenses and the treatment of offenders. Ramsland's mixture of fact and fiction is extremely helpful: she begins a discussion with something we recognize, like an episode from Law & Order, and then segues gently into more unfamiliar territory. The book gives budding writers, and anyone else with an interest in this subject, a solid grounding in the history, terminology, and techniques of forensic psychology.

See following link for more details:

The Criminal Mind: A Writer's Guide to Forensic Psychology

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You can checkout previous forensic psychology book of the month titles by Clicking Here

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The Forensic Psychology and Psychiatry Arena

The Forensic Psychology and Psychiatry Arena provides researchers, instructors and students in Forensic Psychology and Psychiatry with information on the range of books and journals produced by Routledge, Guilford Press, and Psychology Press.

Covering books & journals in Forensic Psychology & Psychiatry, and Psychology & Law. Psychology Press also publish the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales which are particularly applicable to police interviewing contexts.

You can visit this very useful forensic psychology website by Clicking Here.

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www.all-about-forensic-psychology.com

A Free & Comprehensive Guide to The World of Forensic Psychology