Legal psychology in the twenty‐first century

BACKGROUND: This paper examines some of the major topics that legal psychology began to focus on at the end of the last century. AIM: The purpose is to contend that such topics (the reliability of ear-witness testimony, the conducting of identification parades/line ups, the interviewing of suspects, the interviewing of vulnerable witnesses/victims) are deserving of greater attention in this new century. CONCLUSIONS: Legal psychologists should be brave enough to research with methodological rigour complex, real-world topics of importance to society and to advise relevant professional groups on how to improve their performance.