The mind of the criminal : the role of developmental social cognition in criminal defense law / Reid Griffith Fontaine.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fontaine, Reid Griffith, 1971-

Contributor:

Class of 1953 Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Defense (Criminal procedure)--United States.

Defense (Criminal procedure).

United States.

Insanity (Law)--United States.

Insanity (Law).

Criminal psychology--United States.

Criminal psychology.

Physical Description:

xv, 264 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Summary:

"This book discusses the excusing nature of both traditional and nontraditional criminal law defenses and questions the structure of these defenses based on scientific findings from social and developmental psychology"-- Provided by publisher.

"In American criminal law, if a defendant demonstrates that they lack certain psychological capabilities, they may be excused of blame and punishment for wrongdoing. However, criminal defense law often fails to consider the developmental science of individual differences in ability and functioning that may inform jurisprudential issues of rational capacity and responsibility in criminal law. This book discusses the excusing nature of a range of both traditional and nontraditional criminal law defenses and questions the structure of these defenses based on scientific findings from social and developmental psychology. This book explores how research on individual differences in the development of social perception, judgment, and decision making explain why some youths and adults develop psychological tendencies that favor criminal behavior, and considers how developmental science can guide the understanding of criminal excuses and affirmative defense law. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

A meeting of developmental social cognition and criminal jurisprudence and law

Developmental social cognition and antisocial behavior: theory and science

Substandard rational capacity and criminal responsibility

Underdeveloped rationality and wrongdoing in youth

Moral subrationality and the propensity for wrongdoing

Provocation interpretational bias and heat-of-passion homicide

Reacting to perceived threats: mistaken self-defense and duress

Developmental social cognition, the effects of chronic abuse and trauma, and reactive homicide

Toward a more psychologically informed approach to social rationality and excusing conditions in criminal law.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1953 Fund.

ISBN:

0521513766

9780521513760

OCLC:

754717135

Publisher Number:

99948572711