What Is Legal Psychology?

Legal psychology is also called legal psychology. It is an area of applied social psychology that studies the laws of various people's psychological activities related to law. Also called legal psychology. It is a marginal subject between law and psychology. It is playing an increasingly important role in China's dedication to the modernization of the legal system. Explains the psychological problems in criminal and judicial behaviors thoroughly, and further enriches and develops the application of basic theories and technical methods of psychology in the judicial field from the theoretical aspect; it helps to build the legal system in practice Reform and improvement; help to improve the accuracy and scientificity of judicial work; help to reform criminals, and improve the efficiency of reforming criminals.

Chinese name: Legal psychology
Foreign name: Legal Psychology

Applied discipline: psychology
Application range: Social psychology

Basic Introduction to Legal Psychology

Legal psychology has a long history. Initially, it started with studying the criminal psychology of people. As early as the ancient Greek period, there were some philosophers and thinkers in their writings related to the psychological causes of crimes, the characteristics of the offenders, the behavior of the offenders and other ideas related to legal psychology. The Chinese Yin Shang and Zhou Dynasty documents also mentioned in many places the psychological causes of crimes, the motive of crimes, and the social and psychological effects of penalties. In the 17th and 18th centuries, with the establishment of the capitalist system, people began to discuss crime from social, physical, spiritual, genetic, and judicial medicine. Representative works of the time were Montesquieu's "On the Spirit of the Law", JC Pritchard's "On the Insanity and Other Barriers Affecting Psychology", and "The Theory of Natural Genetics" by P. Luca. In the second half of the 19th century, an important branch of legal psychology, criminal psychology, first began to mature. German psychiatrist B.von Kraft-Ebbing published his first monograph on criminal psychology in 1872, followed by H. Gross, E. Wulfen, P. Kovalevski, R Zomer and others have also published monographs on criminal psychology. At the same time, the psychological research of witness testimony has also developed rapidly. Curischer's "Confessions and Psychology and Judicial Trials", and Poldugarov's "On the Confession" are the representative works of this period. RM Hutchins and D. Slesinger published the earliest monograph on Legal Psychology in 1929, followed by HE Burt (1931) and others.

Because legal psychology was formed relatively late as a truly independent discipline, there are still many different views on its research objects and scope. H. Todge believes that legal psychology is the science of the trial process and the intentions, motivations, thoughts, and emotions of those involved in the process. JL Tapp pointed out that psychologists research on legal issues was over-criminalized , that is, they focused on the process and aspects of criminal trials, but greatly ignored civil courts, legal socialization, and legal negotiation. This aspect of psychological research has brought greater limitations to the research and development of legal psychology. The Soviet Union's M.. Yenikev proposed that the composition of legal psychology should include four parts: the methodological foundation of legal psychology, legal psychology, judicial psychology, and reform psychology. .. Sahri Maniyan believes that the legal psychology system should be composed of four branches: legal psychology, criminal psychology, judicial psychology, and transformational psychology. China did not have much research on legal psychology before the 1980s. In recent years, most researches have focused on criminal psychology, especially juvenile criminal psychology.

Basic Law of Legal Psychology

The law with the highest legal effect in a country or region has the same practical effect as the Constitution.

This refers to the formulation and modification of criminal, civil, state agency, and other laws by the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, which cover the most basic issues of the state and social life. The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region belong to the "basic law" level. Laws other than basic laws, also called "general laws," refer to "other laws than those that should be formulated by the National People's Congress" and are formulated and modified by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. In addition, resolutions and decisions made by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress are considered to be narrow laws if their contents are normative provisions rather than documents such as general declarations or appointment orders. It generally includes-constitution, civil law, administrative law, economic law, etc.

Law in the broad sense: refers to the whole of law, including laws, legally valid interpretations, and regulatory documents (such as regulations) formulated by administrative agencies to implement the law.

Narrow law: It refers to the normative documents formulated by state organs with legislative power in accordance with legislative procedures.

In a country with a separation of powers, administrative orders made by administrative agencies to enforce the law are only binding on the civil servants of the administrative agencies. Except for statutory orders, in principle the administrative rules formulated by administrative agencies are not binding on the people . And laws that restrict people's freedom must be made by the legislature elected by the people (that is, the latter).

Fundamentals of Legal Psychology

Synthesizing the viewpoints of the legal and psychological circles in the West and the Soviet Union, combined with the reality of China, the research content of legal psychology can be summarized as follows: It includes legislative psychology, legal education, judicial psychology, labor reform psychology, and civil litigation psychology. In judicial psychology, if it is divided according to judicial procedures, it can also be divided into investigative psychology, pretrial psychology, trial psychology, etc .; if it is divided according to litigants, it can be divided into criminal psychology, victim psychology, and witness psychology. , Defender psychology, police officer psychology, prosecutor psychology, judge psychology, etc.

Research contents of legal psychology

Based on the perspectives of the Western and Soviet legal psychology circles and the reality of China, the research content of legal psychology can be summarized as follows: It includes legislative psychology, legal education, judicial psychology, labor reform psychology, and civil litigation psychology. In judicial psychology, if divided according to judicial procedures, it can also be subdivided into investigative psychological pretrial psychology, trial psychology, etc .; if divided according to litigants, it can be divided into criminal psychology, victim psychology, witness psychology, Defender psychology, police officer psychology, prosecutor psychology, judge psychology, etc.

Legislative psychology is to study the psychological activities and laws of relevant personnel in legislative activities, and provide psychological basis for legislation. Such as the socio-psychological premise of legislation, the socio-psychological effects of the interpretation, amendment or abolition of the law, the influence of the knowledge, ability and personality of the legislator on the legislation.

The law popularization education psychology is to study the law of psychological activities in popularizing legal knowledge and fostering legal awareness. Such as the principles, methods and methods of legal publicity, the internalization mechanism and forming process of legal consciousness.

Judicial psychology is the study of the psychological activities of various litigation participants throughout the judicial process. Such as the psychology of offenders, victims, witnesses and police officers during the investigation; the psychology of offenders, police officers and other participants during the pre-trial process; the psychology of the offenders, victims, witnesses, defenders, prosecutors and judges during the trial Wait.

Psychology of labor reform is to study the psychological phenomenon of criminals and their changes during labor reform. Such as the general factors that affect and restrict the psychological activities of criminals in labor reform; the psychological characteristics of different types of criminals in labor reform; the criminal activities of labor reform criminals in different periods and at different stages.

Civil litigation psychology is the study of the psychological activities of parties, judicial personnel and other related personnel in various types of civil litigation.

The main research methods of legal psychology include observation method, experimental method, investigation method, case study method, follow-up research method, opinion poll method, and mathematical statistics method. In addition to these general research methods, researchers also choose the comprehensive use of several methods according to their specific research topics.

Legal psychology

The laws and systems of the country are the legal system. Law is the expression of the will of the people who dominate the country. The will of the people who dominate the country must be manifested by the will of the country to become law, which is determined by their material living conditions. Law is the embodiment of the will of the ruling stage determined by the material living conditions of a certain ruling stage. It is a normative system formulated or recognized by the state and guaranteed to be enforced by the state. It passes the provisions on people's rights and obligations. Recognition, protection and development are conducive to social relations and social order during the ruling period. System is the social order in a country, including social organizations. When it comes to social civilization, the legal system has to be counted.

A country cannot become a country without the rule of law. The legal system includes all legal documents formulated by the state. It is a normative document for all members of society and state organs. Social organizations must abide by the implementation. It is a tool for maintaining social relations and social order and an important measure for governing the country. Therefore, to study legal issues and legal psychology, it is necessary to study the legal consciousness of the ruling stage. To study legal psychology is to analyze the psychological activities and psychological phenomena of people in the process of implementing legal activities, and analyze their physiology through the analysis of psychological activities and psychological phenomena Mechanism, from the relationship between people's psychological activity process and individual psychological activity and the construction of the legal system, to cultivate people's legal awareness, thinking, emotions and emotions, to strengthen the legal concept and legal life interest, to cultivate good legal psychological quality and healthy psychology, to guide legal practice Activities to develop the legal system and improve the efficiency of legal activities. Legal psychological phenomenon is the feeling, perception, memory, thinking, imagination, emotion, emotion, will and interest, talent, character and temperament that everyone can personally experience and experience in the daily life. The psychological phenomenon that people are most familiar with in legal activities.

From this point of view, legal psychology is the application of various objective methods to study the laws of people's psychological activities in legal activities, that is, the study of people's psychological activities to strengthen the construction of the legal system and promote the progress of human civilization and the development of science. The so-called psychological process, that is, the entire process of the occurrence, development and completion of psychological activities, includes three aspects: the cognitive process, the emotional process, and the will process, referred to as knowledge, affection, and intention. The feeling, perception, memory, thinking, and imagination of the legal system are all psychological activities for the purpose of understanding the legal system. The purpose is to understand the nature and objective laws of the legal system. When people know the legal system through the process of understanding, they are not indifferent. It is not indifferent, but often has a different attitude to the legal system and has a certain emotional experience, which is called emotion, also known as the emotional process of the legal system; the relationship between people and the legal system and the legal environment does not stop at the understanding of the legal system In terms of the experience of emotions and emotions, people also carry out consciously learning, understanding, and abiding by the understanding of the legal system and emotional encouragement. For example, through law popularization activities, when people learn and understand laws and systems, they will consciously exercise their rights and fulfill their obligations in accordance with the law, and consciously abide by the laws and systems. The whole psychological activity of learning, understanding, and observing the law, and striving to achieve the intended purpose, is psychologically called the process of will.

Research Objects of Legal Psychology

The research object of legal psychology is the psychological phenomenon of people in the process of legal education, legal system implementation and governing the country according to law. Legal psychology is mainly the science of legal education, the implementation of the legal system, and the rule of law. It uses psychological theories and methods to solve psychological problems in the process of implementing the legal system. However, legal psychology does not simply apply the knowledge of psychology to explain the psychological phenomena in legal work, but to reveal the implementation of "the law can be relied upon, the law must be relied upon, the law must be strictly enforced, and violations of the law must be investigated in the socialist legal environment." "Implement legal supervision to form democratic legal consciousness, legal ideological morality, and individual psychological laws, and to regulate and control the process of democratic legal consciousness; reveal the dependence of people's individual differences on the legal environment.

Legal psychology emphasizes the interaction between the legal environment of social development and the individual. Individuals are always in contact with social groups and others. Through mutual interaction, they establish certain interpersonal and legal relationships, form various personality characteristics, and produce various social and psychological phenomena. Legal psychology focuses on the relationship between people and the social legal environment. The social legal environment includes social existence, social legal system, and legal awareness, that is, the interaction between people in social life. Legal psychology emphasizes the legal environment, but under the same conditions, because each person's internal psychological factors are different, different reflections will inevitably occur. The internal psychological factors of an individual mainly refer to various psychological characteristics of personality, such as personality, temperament, ability, interest, needs, etc. These psychological characteristics can have certain effects on their psychological activities, and the tendency of personality, that is, belief, Ideals and worldviews have the most profound influence on one's legal psychology.

The research object of legal psychology is social system and legal system construction, legal system publicity and education, legal system environment construction, people's legal psychology in the socialist market economy, etc., and also includes judicial psychology, that is, scout psychology, pre-examiner psychology Science, prosecutor psychology, judge psychology, mediator psychology, prison management psychology, and criminal psychology, criminal reform psychology, criminal correction psychology, juvenile criminal psychology and juvenile criminal correction psychology, etc.

Basic Principles of Legal Psychology

Any scientific research must be guided by dialectical materialism and historical materialism, and follow its basic principles. The research of legal psychology is of course no exception. It must also be guided by the dialectical materialism and historical materialism methodology. For the study of legal psychology, the principles of objectivity, development, and universal connection are particularly important.

Objectivity principle of legal psychology

The principle of objectivity is one of the most basic principles that all science must follow. It understands the nature of nature and does not attach any subjective elements. This is essentially seeking truth from facts, that is, starting from the objective existence of things, studying the internal relations of things, finding out the regularity of things 'development, finding out the regularities of things' development, and finding solutions to problems. This is because legal psychology studies the laws of people's complex psychological phenomena during the implementation of social legal system. Psychological phenomena are different from material phenomena. They are invisible, intangible, intangible, and can only be expressed through human words and deeds. The legal consciousness is the reflection of the human brain on objective things, which in turn can affect a person's words and deeds. Studying the psychology of the legal system should not be based on subjective speculation, but on the basis of whether people maintain social legal order in social relations and social activities, whether to act according to law, and whether to regulate their own words and deeds according to law.

Developmental Principles of Legal Psychology

Society is developing, human civilization is developing, and China s socialist legal system is also developing. This requires that when discussing the legal psychology and legal behavior of people, we must not look at the problem from an isolated and static point of view. We must consider the legal psychology. And changes in legal behavior. It requires us to study the development of the country's legal system, as well as the relationship between the legal environment and human psychological development. The formation of any legal psychological behavior is not natural, it has its complex reasons and historical background, and any existing legal psychological and behavioral characteristics are not static, but continue to evolve and develop.

Principles of General Psychology in Legal Psychology

Any legal psychological phenomenon is not a closed system that is isolated from the outside world, but is in a complex and generally connected relationship. It is closely related to external stimuli and internal reflection activities of the organism. It is also related to the body's existing knowledge and experience, individual characteristics and Mental state is closely linked. As far as external stimulus is concerned, it is very complex and changeable, including social, interpersonal, and demand relationships; there are also mechanical, physical-chemical, and biological ones. In terms of body conditions, there are differences between physical and psychological factors; as far as reflecting activities are concerned, it distinguishes between verbal and behavioral responses. Therefore, the study of legal psychology must consider the relationship between it and the above-mentioned factors, and analyze and examine the laws of legal psychological phenomena from these interactions. This is the principle of universal connection.

Development of Legal Psychology

China is one of the oldest countries in the world. The people of all ethnic groups in China have jointly created a splendid culture and a glorious revolutionary tradition.

After 1840, feudal China gradually became a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country. The Chinese people have waged heroic struggles for national independence, national liberation and democratic freedom.

In the twentieth century, great historical changes took place in China.

The Revolution of 1911, led by Mr. Sun Yat-sen in 1911, abolished the feudal monarchy and founded the Republic of China. However, the historical task of the Chinese people against imperialism and feudalism has not yet been completed.

In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party led by Chairman Mao Zedong led the people of all ethnic groups in China. After experiencing long-term difficult and tortuous armed struggles and other forms of struggle, they finally overthrew the imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism. The rule has achieved a great victory in the new democratic revolution and established the People's Republic of China. Since then, the Chinese people have grasped the power of the country and become the masters of the country.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, our society has gradually realized the transition from new democracy to socialism. In 1956, the socialist transformation of the private ownership of the means of production was completed, the system of exploitation of people by people was eliminated, and the socialist system was established. The people's democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants, which is essentially the dictatorship of the proletariat, has been consolidated and developed. The Chinese people and the Chinese People's Liberation Army defeated the aggression, sabotage, and armed provocations of imperialism and hegemonism, safeguarded the country's independence and security, and strengthened national defense. Significant achievements have been made in economic construction, an independent and relatively complete socialist industrial system has basically been formed, and agricultural production has increased significantly. Education, science, culture and other undertakings have made great progress, and socialist ideological education has achieved remarkable results. The lives of the majority of the people have greatly improved.

The victory of the Chinese New Democratic Revolution and the achievements of the socialist cause were all achieved by the Communist Party of China leading the people of all ethnic groups under the guidance of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, upholding truth, correcting mistakes, and defeating many obstacles. The fundamental task of the country in the future is to concentrate its efforts on socialist modernization. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, under the guidance of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought, the people of all ethnic groups in China will continue to adhere to the people's democratic dictatorship, adhere to the socialist road, continuously improve various socialist systems, develop socialist democracy, and improve the socialist legal system. Self-reliance, hard work, and gradually realize the modernization of industry, agriculture, national defense, science and technology, and build China into a highly civilized and highly democratic socialist country.

The Constitution of the People's Republic of China recognizes the fruits of the struggle of the people of all ethnic groups in China in the form of laws, stipulates the basic system and tasks of the country, is the basic law of the country, and has the highest legal effect. The people of all nationalities, all state organs and armed forces, political parties and social groups, and enterprises and institutions must take the Constitution as the fundamental criterion of activities, and have the responsibility to safeguard the dignity of the Constitution and ensure its implementation.

Legal psychology theory of law

Implications of the rule of law

The rule of law has two meanings: established laws are generally obeyed, and the laws that everyone obeys should themselves be well-formed laws. This means that the so-called rule of law is the combination of good law and law-abiding.

The concrete manifestation of the rule of law

1. Legislative aspects: Ashi stressed that legislation must abide by the following principles: first, reflecting the interests of the middle class; second, studying the situation of the country; third, considering strengthening education for citizens, especially young people; and fourth, combining flexibility and stability.

2. Law enforcement thinking. State officials must strictly enforce the law. Where there are clear provisions in the law, they shall be strictly implemented in accordance with the law; if the provisions of the law are different or not specified, the case must be handled and adjudicated in accordance with the principles of the law.

3. Law-abiding thinking. Abiding by the law is the key to the rule of law. The state must strengthen the cultivation and training of citizens' law-abiding ideas.

Superiority of law

The superiority of the rule of law is relative to the rule of man, and this superiority is mainly reflected in: first, the law is the product of collective wisdom and careful consideration; second, the law has no feelings, is not partial, and has justice; Third, the law can't speak and can't be as open-minded as people. Fourth, the law is clear with the help of normative forms. Fifth, the implementation of the rule of man can easily lead to major national issues, especially hereditary systems; sixth, the era requires the rule of law Seventh, the rule of one person is more difficult, and the ability and energy of the monarch are limited after all; eighth, the rule of one person deprives everyone of the right to take turns.

Compensation for legal deficiencies

Three types of remedies can be taken where the law falls short: "as a subsidy" with the power of an individual or a combination of several people; make appropriate changes to certain imperfect laws; and strengthen legal interpretation. It mainly refers to the spirit of the law (legal meaning) to make a fair treatment and ruling of the case.

Relationship between the rule of law and the rule of law

The rule of law and the rule of law are two concepts that are both different and related, and should not be confused. The main differences between the two are:

1. The legal system is the abbreviation of the legal system, which belongs to the category of the system. It is a kind of actual existence. The rule of law is the abbreviation of the rule of law. It is a principle and method of governing the country. The perfection and transformation of things that actually exist, such as the legal system.

2. The emergence and development of the legal system is directly related to all countries, and there is a legal system in any country; the emergence and development of the rule of law is not directly connected to all countries. The rule of law exists only in democratic countries.

3. The basic requirements of the legal system are that all work is legalized and institutionalized, and that there are laws to be followed, laws must be followed, law enforcement must be strict, and violations of the law must be investigated; and the basic requirements of the rule of law are to act strictly according to law. Various social adjustment measures are supreme, authoritative, and compulsory, not the willpower of those in power.

4. The main sign of the implementation of the rule of law is that a country has relatively complete laws and systems in terms of legislation, law enforcement, justice, compliance and legal supervision. The main sign of the implementation of the rule of law is that of any country's organs, groups and organizations. Individuals, including the country's top leaders, strictly abide by the law and act in accordance with the law.

The relationship between the two lies in the fact that the rule of law is the foundation and prerequisite of the rule of law. To implement the rule of law, it must have a complete rule of law. The rule of law is the foothold and end of the rule of law.

Prospects of Legal Psychology

Legal psychology is both a theoretical science and a very practical applied science. The current development of legal psychology has two directions: one is to theoretically explore the law of the occurrence, development and change of people's social behavior and individual psychological characteristics under the condition of strengthening the legal system in the new century of socialism; the second is to explore the theory of legal psychology Effective methods and approaches for guiding social practice.

Legal Psychological Task

Since legal psychology is a science that studies people's psychological phenomena and activities during the process of legal education, legal implementation, and governing the country according to law, it is necessary to deeply study how socialist legal system affects individual psychology and how individuals adapt to socialism. Legal environment. Furthermore, legal psychology is to study how the macroscopic socialist legal system structure and environment affect individuals through micro socioeconomic life, and how individuals can transform the socialist legal system environmental impact into subjective consciousness; at the same time, it also needs to study How individuals reflect on the role of socialist legal environment through micro-socio-economic life. Only by deeply revealing the laws of individual psychological activity can we establish a true scientific theoretical system, better guide the practice of social legal construction, and fully show its value.

Any science must have three interrelated purposes: foresight, control, and understanding. Foresight refers to the ability to predict the course of future events; control refers to the ability to shape the course of these events. Understanding refers to the ability to clarify the occurrence and change of these events. In many scientific fields, foresight and control often precede complete and broad understanding. In fact, for any science, a complete understanding of the research object is extremely important. Only true understanding can lead to better understanding. Anticipate and anticipate effective control. To realize the understanding of a research object, it depends on comprehensive and extensive theoretical development. Legal psychology conducts theoretical research and fully understands the subjective and objective causes of the emergence, development, and change of people's various types of social legal psychology, so as to establish a theoretical system to achieve the purpose of anticipating and controlling people's legal psychology.

Legal Psychology Practice Tasks

The fundamental task of legal psychology is to apply its theoretical results to the actual life of society, serve the construction of socialist legal system, serve the current reform and opening up, establish a socialist legal system environment, and serve a socialist market economy. In fact, legal psychology can be found in many fields, and it can serve a wide range of social practices. Industrial and mining enterprises need it to help adjust the industrial structure, improve the management level of managers, reduce interpersonal conflicts within the enterprise, and improve production efficiency. In the commercial aspect, it can help improve business ethics, promote commodity transactions, and guide advertising. To understand market trends and consumer requirements and opinions on commodities. In the establishment of a legal environment for the development of a market economy, people can be promoted to have laws to follow, laws must be followed, law enforcement must be strict, and violations of the law must be investigated. At the same time, it is conducive to advancing judicial reform, strengthening legal supervision, ensuring judicial justice, advancing law education, enhancing the legal awareness of the entire people, mobilizing all forces in society, and strengthening comprehensive governance of social order; implementing the basic strategy of "ruling the country by law" and building socialist democracy Legal psychology plays an extremely important role in politics, developing a socialist market economy, building a socialist spirit, and maintaining social stability and the long-term stability of the country.

The role of legal psychology in real life will also promote its own development and the development of the two civilizations of socialism. As a legal psychology, in order to complete the above theoretical and practical tasks, we must face the society and be closely connected with social life. On the one hand, the basic theory and basic knowledge of legal psychology solve practical problems, and on the other hand, it can summarize and refine regular things to enrich and develop the theory of legal psychology, thereby making it more conscious and comprehensive in social practice. And systemically. ^[1]