A social psychological analysis of the criminal justice system.

Reviews the book, Social Psychology of the Criminal Justice System by Martin S. Greenberg and R. Barry Ruback (1982). This text nicely illustrates both the promise of the scientific study of behavior in the criminal justice system, and the current rudimentary state of knowledge in this area. The authors introduce us to a social psychology of the criminal justice system which is long on powerful theory and methods, but which is short on data, primarily because the discipline is still in its infancy. On the whole, the book does a remarkably good job of surveying and organizing from a social psychological perspective what is known about the decision making of actors in nearly every phase of the criminal justice system. The book is highly recommended as an introductory survey text for advanced undergraduates and graduate students with an interest in a psychological approach to the study of the criminal justice system. Students should find the conceptual model to be particularly useful in organizing their understanding of the material.