American Psychology Law Society

This section features hard-to-find information about the American Psychology Law Society (AP-LS).

Table of Contents

AP-LS Introduction

The American Psychology Law Society has a dual identity as both a multidisciplinary professional association, and as Division 41 of the American Psychological Association (APA).

Multidisciplinary means that AP-LS does not restrict membership to psychologists.

The American Psychology Law Society attracts students and professionals from a variety of backgrounds with a common interest in topics at the intersection of psychology and law.

Thus, attorneys, graduate students, sociologists, criminologists, and other scholars may apply to join AP-LS.

The American Psychological Association (APA) has several "divisions", which are akin to "interest groups". Division 41 is the interest group for psychologists interested in psychology and law.

Information about AP-LS has become easier to find the past couple of years (since 2019), particularly with the new AP-LS website launched in 2020. 

However, some material remains difficult to find.

I hope to eliminate that problem by posting the "hidden" data about the American Psychology Law Society here on my website (drworthen.net).

Why Is AP-LS Information Hard to Find?

Part of the problem is that there are essentially three AP-LS websites:

1. AP-LS website (ap-ls.org)
   
   
2. Division 41 section on apadivisions.org
   
   
3. Documents and membership profiles on the membership software site (ap-ls.wildapricot.org)¹

Also, building and maintaining websites requires a lot of time and know-how, resources in short supply for most professional societies.

We might reasonably expect APA to design a user-friendly website, but they still have "room for improvement" in that regard.

The apadivisions.org site has improved over the past few years, but it remains difficult to find what you want, and there's a lot of valuable information that you won't know about unless you stumble across it—a problem caused by an inferior website organizational structure and mediocre navigational aids.

Footnote
1. The membership software site does not contain a navigation directory or list of documents stored on the site.

AP-LS Fact vs. Fiction

AP-LS Fiction

• You must be a forensic psychologist who is a member of APA Division 41 in order to join the American Psychology Law Society. → False!
  
  

AP-LS Facts

• You do not have to be a forensic psychologist to join AP-LS. → True!
  
  
• In fact, you do not have to be a psychologist to join AP-LS. → True!
  
  
• If you are a psychologist, you do not have to be an APA member to join AP-LS. → True!
  
  

AP-LS Executive Committee

Who is the current President of the American Psychology Law Society?

Who serves on the AP-LS Executive Committee?

Answers to those questions are posted on the apadivisions.org website, but they're hard to find. 

AP-LS Officers for 2020–2021 (terms of office begin after the annual APA convention in August).

President: Allison D. Redlich

Allison D. Redlich, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University, where she also serves as the graduate director and associate chair. After receiving her PhD in developmental psychology from the University of California, Davis, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Her research, which has been funded by federal agencies and private foundations, focuses on interrogations and confessions, guilty pleas, wrongful convictions and mental health courts. Across these areas, she has published more than 100 articles, book chapters, and books. Redlich served as the co-principal investigator on the National Science Foundation-funded Research Coordination Network on Understanding Guilty Pleas, is commonly asked to educate legal professionals and the public in the form of expert testimony and presentations, and currently sits on the editorial boards of five journals. In 2018, she was awarded the APA Mid-Career Award for Outstanding Contributions to Benefit Children, Youth, and Families. Redlich has been proud to serve AP-LS in several different capacities, including member-at-large, conference co-chair, chair of the Teaching, Training, and Careers Committee, and member of the Scientific Review Committee.

President-Elect: Lora Levett (Dr. Levett will become AP-LS President in August 2021)

Lora M. Levett, PhD, is an associate professor of criminology, law and society in the Department of Sociology and Criminology and Law at the University of Florida. She received her PhD in legal psychology with a minor in social psychology from Florida International University. Her research focuses on legal decision- making in investigation and trial with the goals of understanding the social processes and mechanisms that influence decision-making and creating policies and procedures that increase just outcomes in the legal system. Her work in these areas has been funded by the National Science Foundation, and she won a third place AP-LS Dissertation Award for her work in juror decision-making. Previously, Levett served as secretary, member-at-large, and chair of the Research, Membership, and Early Career Professionals Committees for AP-LS. She also is an associate editor at Law and Human Behavior.

Past President: Jennifer Groscup (Dr. Groscup served as AP-LS during the 2019–2020 term)

Jennifer L. Groscup, JD, PhD, is an associate professor of psychology at Scripps College, the women’s college of the Claremont Colleges. She received her JD and PhD (social psychology) from the law/psychology program at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Her research has been funded by local entities and federal agencies and focuses on legal decision-making. In the jury and judicial decision-making contexts, her research has focused on expert testimony and scientific evidence, and she received the AP-LS First Place Dissertation Award for her research in that area in 2002. Her research on Fourth Amendment decision-making has focused on privacy expectations, especially related to the use of technology, and on the psychological factors that contribute to a person’s willingness to consent to a police search. Groscup has served as a reviewer for journals and book publishers and an editorial board member for journals in psychology and law. She previously served AP-LS as Dissertation Awards Committee chair, AP-LS Conference co-chair, newsletter editor, member-at-large and secretary. Groscup was the recipient of the AP-LS Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring Award in the Field of Psychology and Law in 2017.

AP-LS Officers

President

Allison D. Redlich   

The president shall be the principal officer of the society and shall in general supervise all of the business and affairs of the society. The president shall preside at all meetings of the membership and of the Executive Committee and in general shall perform all duties incident to the office of president and such other duties as may be prescribed by the Executive Committee from time to time.

President-elect

Lora Levett 

In the absence of the president or in the event of the president's inability to act, the president-elect shall perform the duties of the president and, when so acting, shall have all the powers of and be subject to all the restrictions upon the president. The president-elect shall perform such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the president or by the Executive Committee.

Past President

Jennifer Groscup 

The past-president will chair the Awards and Nominations Committee as well as assist the current president as needed.

Secretary: Michael Lamb 

Duties: The secretary shall keep the minutes of the meetings of the members of the Executive Committee, be the custodian of the society records, secure and review evidence concerning the qualifications of all candidates for membership or changes in membership status in the society, maintain an annually-updated membership list, disseminate information regarding the society's activities to the membership, and in general perform all duties incident to the office of secretary and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the president or by the Executive Committee.

The secretary shall submit a budget for necessary operating expenses to the Executive Committee for approval, and shall have the authority to hire an administrative assistant according to the amount approved for such expenses.

Treasurer: Vanessa Edkins

The treasurer shall have charge and custody of and be responsible for all funds of the society, receive and give receipts for monies due and payable to the society, deposit all such monies in the name of the society in such banks or other depositories as shall be selected by the Executive Committee of the society, prepare an annual financial report and a budget for the upcoming year for the society, and in general perform all duties incident to the office of treasurer and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the president or by the Executive Committee.

Member-at-large: Christopher Bishop

Liaison to Committees: Research, Grants-in-Aid, Conference Advisory, Scientific Review Papers, TTC (Teaching, Training, and Careers), Practice, and Continuing Education

Member-at-large: Lindsay Malloy

Liaison to Committees: Minority Affairs, Early Career Professionals, Professional Development of Women, Student, Corrections, and Legal Scholars.

Member-at-large: Neil Gowensmith 

Liaison to Committees: Governance, Finance, Book Award, Dissertation Award, Nominations and Awards, Fellow, Social Media, Publications and Communications, and Undergraduate Paper Award.

APA Council Representative: Jason Cantone

Editor, Law & Human Behavior: Bradley McAuliff

Newsletter Editor: Meg Ternes

Book Series Editor: Brian Cutler

Website Editor: Lindsey Wylie

Student Committee Chair: Emma Marshall

Incoming Student Committee Chair: Haley Potts

2021 APLS Conference Co-chairs 2020

Emily Haney-Caron

Kelly McWilliams

2021 APA Conference Co-chairs

Lauren Kois

Stephane Shepherd

The Behavioral Science of Firearm Laws (2018)

 Did You Know?

The American Psychology Law Society, in partnership with Oxford University Press, publishes scholarly texts on a variety of topics.

Learn more about the American Psychology Law Society Series (31 books).

This book series is sponsored by the American Psychology Law Society (APLS), Division 41 of the American Psychological Association.

APLS is an interdisciplinary organization devoted to scholarship, practice, and public service in psychology and law, and its membership includes psychologists from the academic research and clinical practice communities as well as members of the legal community.

The focus of the American Psychology Law Society Series reflects the diversity of the field of psychology and law by publishing books on a broad range of topics.

Footnotes

1. APLS is also for attorneys, students, and others interested in topics at the intersection of psychology and law. You do not have to be an APA member to join the American Psychology Law Society.

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