Abstract
It is not without some degree of irony that one of the hardest questions encountered in forensic psychology is a cogent explanation of what comprises the discipline. The source of this difficulty largely arises from the diverse range of professional activities that feasibly come under the collective rubric of forensic psychology. Thus, forensic psychologists can be found presenting expert testimony in various court proceedings, evaluating a job applicant’s suitability for police work, assessing prison inmate’s rehabilitation and thus suitability for release, or advising detectives on some aspect to a crime currently under investigation. An artefact of this diversity is reflected in the scholarly texts generated in the field which are often orientated toward one dimension typically to the exclusion of another. Accordingly, some texts are primarily focused on clinical evaluations of individuals for the purpose of court proceedings (e.g., Melton, Petrila, Poythress, & Slobogin, 2007), others on the application of psychology to the investigation of crimes (e.g., Kocsis, 2009), and others still on issues surrounding the policing profession (e.g., Weiss, 2010).
It is among this backdrop that Shipley and Arrigo’s third edition of Introduction to Forensic Psychology arguably constitutes one of the most unique contributions to the discipline in producing a text which bridges and thus consolidates this diversity within the field into a single tome. Moreover, this integration is further bolstered by the differing skill sets of the respective authors in both academia as well as forensic clinical practice. The combination of the aforementioned attributes results in a text that is scholarly rigorous while being broad and encompassing in its disciplinary scope and yet distinctly pragmatic in its perspectives reflective of clinical practice.
The structure of the text is broken down into three broad parts consisting of “Adult Forensics,” “Juvenile Forensics,” and “Family Forensics.” Within each of these parts, three core dimensions exist, respectively labeled as “Court and the Legal System,” “Policing,” and “Corrections and Prison Practices.” Via this formulation, numerous issues are presented which serve to span the diverse spectrum of topics that comprise forensic psychology. Consequently, Chapter 1 encompassed under “Adult Forensics” examines adult forensic evaluations such as insanity and competency. Thereafter, Chapter 2 considers adult forensic consultations wherein topics such as jury selection and expert witness practices can be found. Chapter 3 then explores civil forensics with Chapter 4 considering adult issues in policing such as the use of force, suicide by cop, and criminal profiling. Rounding off Part 1 of the book, Chapter 5 examines corrections and prison practices, including issues related to sex-offender treatment and prisoners’ rights to refuse treatment.
This approach in canvassing the disciplinary literature is thereafter repeated in the following two parts of the text dealing with “Juvenile” and “Family” forensics. Thus, under the mantle of the Courts and Legal system, Chapter 6 examines topics related to delinquent conduct such as the age of responsibility, cyber bullying, and school violence. Chapter 7 considers civil forensics such as custody evaluations and Chapter 8 concludes with an examination of topics within the context of corrections such as suicide among incarcerated juveniles and juveniles in adult prisons. The third and final part of the book encompassing Chapters 9 through 12 once again repeats this analysis of contemporary literature but with reference to families. Chapter 9 considers topics related to domestic violence and homicides within families while Chapter 10 explores civil dimensions within the context of families such as termination of parental rights and gay rights within a family structure. Likewise, Chapter 11 examines families from the perspective of policing such as stress and mental illness among police officers while Chapter 12 concludes with the perspective of corrections on topics such as family reunification of former prison inmates and includes an examination of stress among correctional officers and their families.
The exemplary merits of Shipley and Arrigo’s text now into its third edition can be summarised into one not so simple point—it manages to answer the difficult question of comprehensively introducing the reader to what is forensic psychology. While other books may feature greater depth in explaining the procedures for forensic assessments or psychological theories to crime, the Achilles’ heel in all of these works is arguably the inevitable limitation to their scope in considering the full range of issues that make up the discipline of forensic psychology. In conclusion, Introduction to Forensic Psychology by Shipley and Arrigo breaks through these boundaries and presents scholars, students, clinical practitioners, lawyers, law enforcement, and correctional personnel alike with an invaluable and uniquely holistic compendium unrivalled by any other.