Lawrence S. Wrightsman

Adequate but lacking

I purchased this book for an undergraduate psych course, "Psychology & the Law". As I have a BA in psychology, I've read quite a few psychology textbooks in the past few years, and this might possibly be the worst of the bunch.

Generally, the book is somewhat disorganized and the chapters don't really seem to flow together. The text gives the feeling that the reader is jumping from topic to topic without any sense of cohesion between the chapters. The authors try to bind the sections together with the running theme of dilemmas in the legal system, but this strategy just strikes me as contrived, especially since some of the so-called dilemmas are rather commonsensical. Also, the authors' writing style is lacking, and I find myself with many questions after reading the chapter - certain topics just aren't explained very well, or very efficiently, for that matter.

Overall, I think the textbook is adequate for teaching the material but I'm convinced that it can't be the best choice out there. As a fellow reviewer mentioned, the text mentions nothing in regards to rehab of criminals, which seems like a huge oversight (after all, isn't rehabilitation half the battle?). So please, PLEASE, if you're a professor who's considering using this text to teach your class - DON'T!

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1ZH2ZHPAZOESH/… (mere)