Reducing Misconceptions and False Beliefs in Police and Criminal Psychology

• DOI: 10.1177/0093854808321527
• Date: 01 October 2008
• Author: Michael G. Aamodt
• Published date: 01 October 2008
• Subject Matter: Articles

REDUCING MISCONCEPTIONS

AND FALSE BELIEFS IN POLICE AND

CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY

MICHAEL G. AAMODT

Radford University

Although certainly not alone, the field of police and criminal psychology seems to be an area that is highly susceptible to

myths and misinformation. Whether it is the notion that police have higher suicide and divorce rates or that crime rates greatly

increase during a full moon, there are many commonly held beliefs that are not supported by scientific evidence. This article

discusses research conducted by the author and his students over the past several years to investigate the accuracy of some

common beliefs in police and criminal psychology. Four principles are proposed that, if considered, might reduce the level

of misinformation in police and criminal psychology. These principles include using primary sources, comparing apples with

apples, avoiding the oversimplification of what is being studied, and understanding that in general, human judgment is not a

good predictor of behavior.

Keywords: criminal psychology; police psychology; crime myths; serial killers; police suicide

Although certainly not alone, the field of police and criminal psychology seems to be an

area that is highly susceptible to beliefs for which there is no empirical basis (Honig,

2007; Walker, 1989). Whether it is the notion that police have higher suicide and divorce

rates or that crime rates greatly increase during a full moon, there are many commonly held

beliefs that are not supported by scientific evidence (Kappeler, Blumberg, & Potter, 2000;

Kelly, Rotton, & Culver, 1986). Perhaps more disturbing is that not only are many of these

beliefs not based on an empirical source, but many are perpetuated in spite of evidence to

the contrary.

Identifying these misconceptions is important as they can result in the waste of human

and financial resources. For example, as will be discussed in greater detail later in this arti-

cle, a common belief is that police officers have much higher suicide rates than the popu-

lation in general. As a result of this belief, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) held

a 3-day conference in 1999 to discuss this issue and to develop law enforcement–specific

interventions to address the problem of high suicide rates in law enforcement. During the

conference, it was determined that suicide rates for law enforcement were actually lower

than that of the general population and that law enforcement personnel commit suicide for

the same reasons as the general public. Thus, time and effort spent on law enforcement–

specific interventions would likely not be successful (Violanti, 2007).

Another example of a problematic misconception is the confidence that law enforcement

place in their ability to detect deception (DePaulo & Pfeifer, 1986; Vrij, 2000). As will be

discussed later in this article, meta-analytic results are clear that such a belief is not sup-

ported by research (Aamodt & Custer, 2006). Allowing such a belief to perpetuate could

result in officers placing too much confidence in their judgments with regard to whether a

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CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, Vol. 35 No. 10, October 2008 1231-1240

DOI: 10.1177/0093854808321527

© 2008 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Please address correspondence to Michael G. Aamodt, Department of Psychology,

Radford University, Radford, VA 24142; phone: 540-831-5513; e-mail: maamodt@radford.edu.