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Abstract
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The continued resistance of the law to the findings of psychologists is a very natural one and must be understood before cooperation can be achieved: and the psychologists on their part have manifested certain "blind spots" which have served to widen the gap between the two disciplines. The psychologists must recognize the fact that though the law is dealing fundamentally with the same subject matter, it is not traveling along the same line, but, on the contrary, has set up very different goals. The law is more interested in competitive activity than in testimonial accuracy, more in expressions of punitive impulses than in sympathetic understanding of antisocial behavior. To obtain cooperation, it is necessary for the lawyer to gain a more thorough grasp of psychological knowledge; and for the psychologist to strive for a keener appreciation of the law's aims and essential spirit by studying legal behavior in actual practice rather than under the artificial conditions of the laboratory or office. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)
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