Psychology in the Courtroom

In 2003 the School of Psychology at The Australian National University offered an innovative course as a special topic in psychology on the theme of Psychology in the Courtroom. In a two day session at the The Australian National University's Kioloa Coastal Campus 26 students and seven staff wrote the script for a 30 minute documentary and filmed a 30 minute rough of the documentary (inspired by the School's 2003 production Psychology in Space.

The documentary covered six main areas: eyewitness testimony, children as witnesses, understanding mental disorders, stereotyping of people with mental disorders, decision making processes and small group processes. The Kioloa session involved Dr. Craig McGarty, Girish Lala, Phill Krins, Laura Clapham, Amaly Khalaf and Dr. May-Jane Chen from the School of Psychology and Dr. Mark Nolan from the Faculty of Law. Staff involved in teaching the course included Dr. Michael Smithson, Dr. Rachael Eggins, Dr. Judy Slee and Dr. Jeff Ward.