Cover of Law and Human Behavior (medium)
Law and Human Behavior
A publication of APA Division 41 (American Psychology-Law Society)

Highlights

Free article summaries, press releases, editor interviews, journal awards, mentorship opportunities, and more

In Brief: Ethical reasoning may curb desire to share ‘fake news’ and more scientific findings

Summaries of research from psychology and related fields.
June 2026
Research in Brief

Previous open access articles

Browse more open access article from Law and Human Behavior
March 2026
go.apa.org

Can justice happen on a laptop? Study says yes

Research from APA finds that virtual juries remain just as attentive, engaged, and fair as in‑person juries, suggesting online deliberations can be a reliable and accessible option for modern courts.
January 2026
Press Release

Perception bias, volunteering vs. family care, loneliness

People often misperceive the values and beliefs of those with whom they are close and assume they see things the same way. Plus many more research highlights.
July 2025
Research in Brief

Judicial notebook: Does pretrial publicity overly bias the prospective jury pool?

A defendant’s right to a fair trial in the face of extensive media coverage.
June 2025
Monitor on Psychology

Police-induced confessions: Risks and recommendations

In their Law and Human Behavior article, Kassin et al. expand on previous research concerning false confessions.
April 2025
APA Journals Article Spotlight

Law and Human Behavior: Status Update and New Initiatives, February 2025

Read the editor's perspective of the current status of the journal
February 2025
APA PsycNet

The Prevalence of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Among People Impacted by the Criminal Legal System: An Updated Meta-Analysis and Subgroup Analyses November 30, 2024

Open access article from Law and Human Behavior
November 2024
APA PsycNet

A survey of U.S. police officers about interviewing and interrogation

In their Law and Human Behavior article, Brimbal et al. examine evolving practices and beliefs held by U.S. police officers regarding interviewing and interrogation.
October 2024
APA Journals Article Spotlight

David DeMatteo, JD, PhD, Law and Human Behavior

DeMatteo, editor-in-chief of Law and Human Behavior, plans to make changes in the editorial structure to address current challenges and priorities.
February 2024
Editor Spotlight

Judicial notebook: The other guy did it too

How does a confession that mentions a codefendant’s involvement affect jury determinations of guilt?
November 2023
Monitor on Psychology

A step toward culturally informed forensic mental health assessments: Improving justice and equity for legal-system-involved people

An article in this issue of APA Journals Article Spotlight in Law and Human Behavior, Amanda Fanniff, Taylor York, and Renee Gutierrez seek to provide guidance on conducting impartial legal evaluations and combatting racial biases by drawing on the knowledge and experience of experts in the field.
September 2023
APA Journals Article Spotlight

Developing Consensus for Culturally Informed Forensic Mental Health Assessment: Experts’ Opinions on Best Practices

add
June 2023
APA PsycNet

Developing a Model of Guilty Plea Decision-Making: Fuzzy-Trace Theory, Gist, and Categorical Boundaries

add
June 2023
APA PsycNet

Evidence-Based Suspicion and the Prior Probability of Guilt in Police Interrogations

Open access article from Law and Human Behavior
April 2023
APA PsycNet

What’s Risk Got to Do With It: Judges’ and Probation Officers’ Understanding and Use of Juvenile Risk Assessments in Making Residential Placement Decisions

Open access article from Law and Human Behavior
April 2023
APA PsycNet

Just how powerful is false confession evidence?

This featured article in this issue of APA Journals Article Spotlight in Law and Human Behavior, researchers analyzed data from the National Registry of Exonerations to test the influence of risk factors associated with wrongful convictions and relevant alternative factors on the exoneration process.
February 2023
APA Journals Article Spotlight

Racial Justice in Psycholegal Research and Forensic Psychology Practice: Current Advances and a Framework for Future Progress

Open access article from Law and Human Behavior
February 2023
APA PsycNet

Further Action Toward Valid Science in Law and Human Behavior: Requiring Open Data, Analytic Code, and Research Materials, December 2022

Open access article from Law and Human Behavior
December 2022
APA PsycNet

The psychological science of adolescent behavior and decision-making is reshaping the juvenile justice system

Psychologists are partnering with jurisdictions nationwide to revise juvenile probation policies and practices to align with developmental science.
November 2022
Monitor on Psychology

The formerly incarcerated are helping newly released prisoners cope with life after prison

Mental health professionals are training these peer specialists to help former inmates build successful lives after leaving prison
October 2022
Monitor on Psychology

After having a few alcoholic beverages, are you able to comprehend your Miranda rights?

This featured article in this issue of APA Journals Article Spotlight in Law and Human Behavior tests the assumption that alcohol-intoxicated suspects are capable of understanding the meaning and implications of their Miranda rights.
September 2022
APA Journals Article Spotlight

Can justice be served online?

Psychologists are working to answer questions central to fairness, such as whether online trials satisfy defendants’ constitutional rights.
September 2022
Monitor on Psychology

Countering cognitive biases on experts’ objectivity in court

Mental health professionals’ opinions can be extremely influential in legal proceedings.
September 2022
Monitor on Psychology

CE corner: Mental illness and violence: Debunking myths, addressing realities

Research is helping to tease apart why some people with serious mental illness are prone to violence while others are not, and how clinicians and others can help through improved treatment and informed myth-busting.
July 2022
Monitor on Psychology

Cognitive biases can affect experts’ judgments: A broad descriptive model and systematic review in one domain

This featured study in this issue of APA Journals Article Spotlight from Law and Human Behavior presents a broad descriptive model of how bias affects human judgement.
May 2022
APA Journals Article Spotlight

What helps immigrants deal with deportation proceedings?

Bailey and colleagues identify risk and protective markers for well-being in immigrants facing removal proceedings in this issue of APA Journals Article Spotlight.
August 2021
APA Journals Article Spotlight

Does COVID-19 affect the fairness of the plea process for defendants?

The featured paper in this issue of APA Journals Article Spotlight explores whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the fairness of plea bargaining and court procedures for defendants.
May 2021
APA Journals Article Spotlight

Get out of jail free? Achieving racial equity in pretrial reform

The featured study in this issue of APA Journals Article Spotlight examines effort to base pretrial release decisions on risk assessment rather than bond.
February 2021
APA Journals Article Spotlight

Mass shootings: Limiting magazine capacity saves lives and doesn’t infringe on gun rights August 19, 2020

Law and Human Behavior in the press
August 2020
USA Today

Is this apartment still available? Maybe not for exonerees

The featured article in this issue of APA Journals Article Spotlight examines whether criminal status, race, or criminal offence influenced landlords’ willingness to rent to exonerees.
August 2020
APA Journals Article Spotlight

Improving eyewitness identification key to protecting innocent people

Law enforcement officials can reduce mistakes by eyewitnesses to crimes if they follow a series of recommendations that include interviewing witnesses as soon as possible after a crime and videotaping the session.
February 2020
Press Release

Should Seeing Be Believing? Evidence-Based Recommendations by Psychologists May Reduce Mistaken Eyewitness Identifications

The featured article in this issue of APA Journals Article Spotlight identifies research-based recommendations to help prevent mistaken eyewitness identifications.
January 2020
APA Journals Article Spotlight

What do criminal justice risk assessments actually assess? August 22, 2019

add
August 2019
Phys.org

Detecting deception in children: A meta-analysis Mentioned in “50 lies kids say that parents always fall for” from MSN.com, March 18, 2019

March 2019
APA PsycNet

Taking the Next Steps: Promoting Open Science and Expanding Diversity in Law and Human Behavior, February 2019

Open access article exploring how Law and Human Behavior approaches diversity practices
February 2019
APA PsycNet

News from APA Publishing

APA Journals Resources