The relationship between psychology, policy and law has assumed substantial importance in our society. Psychological knowledge is considered in developing and evaluating numerous laws and policies dealing with topics ranging from child maltreatment to the use of science in the courtroom. The need for this information is not surprising when we consider that federal and state legislatures, courts, and administrative agencies create laws that are based upon psychological assumptions about how people act, how their actions can be controlled, whether state intervention is desirable, and how laws should be structured to achieve its goals...
