Witnessing for Sociology: Sociologists in Court / Edition 1

by Pamela J. Jenkins, J.S. Kroll-Smith

Overview

The American court system is making increasing use of sociologists as expert witnesses. From toxic torts to religious cults and brainwashing, sociological knowledge is becoming increasingly more commonplace in the legal arena. This edited volume is a collection of the experiences of sociologists who have appeared as expert witnesses in a variety of court cases. Many of the cases covered in this book revolve around central issues of murder, self-defense, religious cults, battered women, child pornography, environmentalism, and homelessness. This volume is unique in its breadth of topics and contributions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275948528
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/24/1996
Series:	Greenwood PR.Literature in Context
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.69(d)
Lexile:	1430L (what's this?)

About the Author

PAMELA J. JENKINS is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of New Orleans.

STEVE KROLL-SMITH is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Environmental Social Science Research Institute at the University of New Orleans.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Marvin E. Wolfgang
Old Stories, New Audiences: Sociological Knowledge in Courts by Steve Kroll-Smith and Pamela J. Jenkins
The Numbers Game
"We Don't Deal in Probabilities Here:" Tales of a Quantitative Sociologist in Court by Joseph E. Jacoby
Shadowboxing with Mark Twain: Self Defense of the Statistical Expert by William E. Feinberg
Humanizing the Defendant
Sociology and Capital Murder: A Question of Life or Death by Craig J. Forsyth
When Murder May Be Suicide and "Yes" Means "I Heard You": The Sociologist as Cultural Interpreter by Patricia G. Steinhoff
Contested Knowledge: Battered Women as Agents and Victims by Pamela J. Jenkins
Sociology, Medicine, and Psychology: Hints of a Paradigm Shift
Sociology and the New Religions: "Brainwashing, the Courts, and Religious Freedom" by Jim Richardson
Sociology, Medicine and Chemical Dependency: Embedding Drugs and Alcohol in Socio-Cultural Contexts by Barry Kinsey
The Sociologist, Gangs, and Battered Women: Representing the Discipline in the Courts by Lee Bowker
Defining the Limits of Moral Accountability
Sociology and Negligent Security: Premise Liability and Crime Prediction by Lydia Voigt and William Thornton, Jr.
Obscenity and Child Pornography: Sociology in Defense of Sexually-Oriented Materials by Philip Holley
Toxins in the Environment, Damage to the Community: Sociology and the Toxic Tort by Steve Picou
Housing the Homeless: The Sociologist as Expert and Activist by Hilary Silver, Steven Fischbach, and Judith Kaye
Afterword by Kai Erikson
Index

Editorial Reviews

Socialists with full-time academic appointments (to exclude professional witnesses) relate their experience being expert witnesses in a broad range of legal areas, focusing on specific ways the sociological knowledge helped shape or fashion the legal questions at issue. The 13 essays discuss making quantitative and statistical studies credible; humanizing the defendant; a paradigm shift in medicine and psychology; and defining the limits of moral accountability on such issues as child pornography, environmental toxins, and housing the homeless. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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