Research Areas
Faculty across Duke explore how behavioral genetics and neuroscience should and do impact the criminal justice system.
From the role of genetics and neuroscience in prosecutorial decision-making, to improving the accuracy and reducing the errors in criminal convictions, to how science can inform fact-finding and discovering “truth,” Duke researchers are discovering how behavioral sciences impact law and policy. Focuses include the effects of retribution and perceived unfairness in determining monetary damages, the use and impact of memory during trials, genes and neural mechanisms underlying the sense of reward for cooperation and desire to punish those who try to obtain resources unfairly, and how the legal system should adapt to advances in neuroscience.
Participating Faculty
- James E. Coleman, Jr., JD (Law, Wrongful Convictions Clinic, Appellate Litigation Clinic)
- Nita Farahany, JD, PhD (Science & Society, Law, Philosophy)
- Scott Huettel, PhD (Center for Interdisciplinary Decision Science, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience; Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Psychology & Neuroscience)
- Pate Skene, PhD (Neurobiology)
- Neil Vidmar, PhD (Law)
Representative Courses
- Neuroethics (Law)
- Reason & Argument (Philosophy)
- Brains, Genes, and Law (Law)
- Bioethics and the Law (Law)
- Science, Law, and Policy (Law)
- Social Science Evidence in Law (Law)