The Need for and the Role of Comparative and Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Behavioral-Science-and-Law Scholarship

David Carson, University of Southampton
Alan Tomkins, University of Nebraska

Document Type Article

Published in Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 15 (1997), 321-328. Copyright © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Used by permission.

Abstract

Behavioral-science-and-law scholarship suffers from the lack of many activities examining issues from a comparative or cross-cultural perspective. Although U.S. contributions tend to be the most insular, the problem applies to virtually all behavioral-science-and-law endeavors. This special perspective examines the trend in behavioral-science-and- law scholarship, presents data to support the allegation that there are few comparative/cross-cultural contributions, offers explanations for the situation, and advocates for the introduction of more comparative/cross-cultural efforts in the future.