Mississippi State University students can attend a workshop and a presentation by prominent forensic psychologist and author Dr. Stanley L. Brodsky today at MSU. Brodsky, who is held among the nation’s top experts in courtroom testimony, plans to hold a workshop for students considering a career in the emerging field of forensic psychology.
Brodsky said there are several important abilities and skills one should cultivate when looking into the field, including “dedication, focus, the ability to think and write well and the ability to be both compassionate and objective.”
Following the workshop, Brodsky will give a presentation at noon in Dorman auditorium on the psychological and conceptual perspectives of witness preparation and jury selection.
Brodsky said he wants to discuss how current psychological research is being used to help witnesses in a courtroom.
“The objective is to [assist] lay and expert witnesses so that they may testify clearly, effectively and comfortably,” Brodsky said. “I will discuss my witness research lab and how key variables are being studied systematically.”
Brodsky said he will also discuss how attorneys can use psychology in jury selection.
“I will discuss how ordinary common sense leads attorneys to select and strike members of jury panels based on occupation, age, race, education and other socio-demographic variables. Then I will indicate how really productive jury selection goes well beyond ordinary common sense into underlying and relevant psychological variables,” he said.
Brodsky, who received his doctorate from the University of Florida in 1964, teaches at the University of Alabama. He has written 10 books, including the best-selling “Testifying in Court” and his newest title, “The Expert Witness,” as well as 170 articles and chapters, most of which deal with psychology as it applies to legal issues.
Brodsky said his success in this rather unique field comes down to one simple thing: “I love what I do,” Brodsky said. “It is exciting to conduct research and to offer consultation to the courts and attorneys in a way that makes a difference.”
The workshop will run from 9:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. in Magruder 226 today.