Psychology and Law
The Psychology and Law Program training area, with faculty, students, and labs based primarily at John Jay College, emphasizes training in research as well as in applied work, such as policy development. It prepares students to be academics and applied researchers who can provide professional psychological expertise to and within the criminal and civil legal systems. Our program values social justice and continuously strives to advocate for fair and equitable treatment across all members of our society. We recognize that our criminal and legal systems, both historically and currently, oppress and disadvantage people of specific races, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, national origins, and religious affiliations. Therefore, our program aims to train students in: 1. Basic psychological theory, 2. The application of psychological theories to legal and forensic contexts, and 3. How individuals’ identities, as well as the integration and intersectionality of various identities, influence their experiences within these contexts.
The Psychology and Law Program includes social, cognitive, developmental, policy and decision sciences orientations, as well as the integration of these areas. Scholarly activity by members of the program brings these psychological orientations to bear on issues such as:
Children’s experiences as victims and witnesses
Confessions
Deception detection
Evidence-informed integration and transformation of the juvenile and adult criminal legal systems
Eyewitness identification (both false and accurate)
Forensic Interviewing of children and vulnerable witnesses
Forensic science and confirmation biases
Interviewing and interrogation
Jury decision-making in criminal and civil cases
Juvenile justice
Memory (including false memory, alibis, and the effects of social interaction and trauma)
Plea-bargaining
Policing & Public Safety
Racial disparities in eyewitness identifications
Racial disparities in police decision making
Procedural justice
Study of crime scenes and criminal behavior
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING (DEIB) STATEMENT:
Social justice is a shared value within the Psychology and Law Training Area. Our faculty and students are advocates for fairness and equity in both our research and actions. We recognize that, due in large part to discrimination, injustice, and systemic oppression, most researchers in the field of Psychology and Law do not reflect the characteristics of those who are most often affected by the system we study. As such, we are committed to changing the demographic profile of the researchers and teachers of Psychology and Law. We strive to diversify the field by training the next generation of diverse researchers, teachers, and leaders in the field. We hope to accomplish this mission by welcoming faculty with wide-ranging perspectives and identities into our program and by both educating and learning from students with various backgrounds.
Our Faculty

Mark Fondacaro
Professor
- Psychology
Professor
- Criminal Justice

Maria Hartwig
Associate Professor
- Psychology

Saul Kassin
Distinguished Professor
- Psychology

Margaret Bull Kovera
Professor
- Psychology

Kelly McWilliams
Assistant Professor
- Psychology

Steven Penrod
Distinguished Professor
- Psychology

Gabrielle Salfati
Professor
- Psychology

Charles Stone
Associate Professor
- Psychology

Deryn Strange
Associate Professor
- Psychology
Contact Us
Director of Psychology & Law Training Area:
Charles Stone
Email: chstone@jjay.cuny.edu
View a list of important contacts in the Psychology & Law training area