Psychics and Criminal Justice

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at how the use of psychic individuals to assist in criminal justice investigations dates back more than 300 years to France and how the practice continues in some regions of the country today. It discusses how a belief in such powers endures into the 21st century suggests that there may in fact be something to these claims. The purpose of this paper is to determine the efficacy of the use of psychics in modern criminal justice proceedings. A critical review of the peer-reviewed and scholarly literature is accompanied by a custom survey to determine current beliefs concerning the practice today. A discussion of the results and conclusions are followed by a summary of the research and recommendations in the concluding chapter.

Outline
Introduction
Background of the Study
Problem Statement
Purpose and Objectives
Rationale
Definition of Terms
Limitations
Theoretical Framework
Research Hypotheses
Summary of Remaining Chapters
Review of Related Literature
Methodology
Data Analysis
Discussion, Conclusions and Recommendations

From the Paper:

"Certainly, there has been much skepticism concerning the reality of paranormal powers since antiquity. A number of "natural philosophers," people that would eventually be known as scientists when more organized systems of thought came into existence, disproved such claims several centuries ago (Randi, 1982). For example, in 1692, a French dowsing practitioner by the name of Jacques Aymar was hired by municipal authorities to discover a murderer by swinging a pendulum. According to Randi, "Apparently, it was believed that guilt was detectable by this means. Aymar is said to have led the officials to a nineteen-year-old hunchback who subsequently was 'broken on the wheel'--a particularly unpleasant death much favored as punishment for unpopular people like hunchbacks" (Randi, 1982, p. 3). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Abanes, R. (1998). End-time visions: The road to Armageddon? New York: Four Walls Eight Windows.
• Cavendish, R. (Ed.). (1970). Man, myth & magic: An illustrated encyclopedia of the supernatural, vol. 17. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation.
• Dodge, A. G. (1996). Psychic the science of psychical activity: A psychic's viewpoint. Education, 116(3), 387.
• Drury, N. (1985). Dictionary of mysticism and the occult. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
• Neuman, A. E. 2003. Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches, 5th ed. Boston: Pearson Educational.

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