For this paper, you will read an essay by Hugo Münsterberg about the role of emotions in criminal investigations. As you'll see, the research into emotions was at a very early stage at the time this essay was written, but in it, Münsterberg nevertheless advocates for the use of that research in assessing and evaluating emotions in police interrogations and courtroom testimony.
Münsterberg also had an eye to the future, and he speculated that the findings generated by emotions research might someday help in the assessment of emotions in these contexts. Your goal with your paper will be to reflect on this; in what ways, and to what extent, has psychological research on emotions helped or hindered the criminal justice system and the people who operate within it?
Your paper should be in two parts:
1. Summarize Münsterberg's essay in your own words. I cannot emphasize strongly enough that you must re-state the arguments being made in the original piece rather than simply re-wording the essay. If you need help with this, please consider consulting with the Writing Centre early in the process.
• This part of your paper should be no longer than 2 pages.
2. Review the current research on emotions and the practical applications of that research in the criminal justice system. You may choose to keep a wide frame, or you may narrow in on a specific topic such as lie-detection or the physiological correlates of emotion. Make sure, however that you remain focused on practical applications and that you remain within the context Münsterberg was interested in.
• This part of your paper should be no longer than 4 pages
• You must use a minimum of 5 high-quality scholarly references dated no earlier than 2000 for this part of the paper.
Format and submission:
• Your paper MUST be in APA format, and it must have an abstract
• Submit your paper as one file, in doc or docx format (NOT .pages, pdf, rtf, etc.)
• Any submission that is substantially lacking in content will be assessed a grade of zero. Keeping this in mind, you should make every attempt to complete the assignment before the submission deadline.
• Review your document before you submit it. Save, close and re-open it to ensure that all your content is there before you submit the file.