Dr. Joseph Eastwood
PhD
Professor
Forensic Psychology
Faculty of Social Science and Humanities
Contact information
2 Simcoe Street
- Room 624
Downtown Oshawa
2000 Simcoe Street North
Oshawa, ON L1G 0C5
905.721.8668 ext. 5971
Research Areas
- investigative interviewing
- alibis
- comprehension of legal rights
- wrongful convictions
Supervision Areas
- improving investigative interviewing
- generation and assessment of alibis
- comprehension of youth waiver forms
Research Lab
Applied Law Enforcement Resource & Training (ALERT) Lab
The objective of the Applied Law Enforcement Resource & Training (ALERT) Lab is to enhance law enforcement methodologies by utilizing research grounded in psychological science, with an emphasis on investigative interviewing techniques.
Team
ALERT Lab is directed and managed by Dr. Eastwood, a forensic psychologist with a specialization in social psychology, possessing expertise and research interests in investigative interviewing, alibis, comprehension of legal rights, and wrongful convictions. His team consists of two PhD candidates, Cassandre Dion Larivière and Quintan Crough.Current Projects
ALERT Lab's principal aim is to improve law enforcement practices via research, focusing on three main areas: optimizing investigative interviewing techniques, which involves examining effective methods for eliciting testimonies from interviewees, and assessing the effectiveness of various interviewing strategies. Investigating the understanding and application of interrogation rights through scientific methodologies to enhance their clarity. Finally, ALERT Lab investigates the generation and evaluation of alibis by measuring various aspects of an alibi assessment process as well as the ability of innocent suspects to generate believable alibis.Education
- MSc, Experimental Social Psychology Memorial University
- PhD, Experimental Social Psychology Memorial University
Involvement
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Publications
Eastwood, J., Snook, B., & Luther, K. (2014). On the need to ensure better comprehension of interrogation rights. Canadian Criminal Law Review,18, 171-181.
Snook, B., Eastwood, J. & Barron, T. (2014). The next stage in the evolution of interrogations: The PEACE model. Canadian Criminal Law Review, 18, 219-239.
Freedman, S., Eastwood, J., Snook, B., & Luther, K. (2014). Safeguarding Youth Interrogation Rights: The Effect of Grade Level and Reading Complexity of Youth Waiver Forms on the Comprehension of Legal Rights. Applied Cognitive Psychology. Advance online publication.
Eastwood, J., Snook, B., & Luther, K. (2012). An analysis of the complexity and comprehensibility of Canadian youth caution waivers. Crime & Delinquency. Advance online publication.
Eastwood, J., & Snook, B. (2012). The effect of listenability factors on the comprehension of police cautions. Law and Human Behavior, 36, 177-183.
Snook, B., Eastwood, J., Stinson, M., Tedeschini, J., & House, J. C. (2010). Reforming investigative interviewing in Canada. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 52, 203-217. -
Presentations
Freedman, S., Eastwood, J., Snook, B., & Luther, K. (2014, March). "What are my rights again?": Comprehension of Canadian youth waiver forms. Paper presented at the American Psychology-Law Society Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Eastwood, J. (2013, September). You have the right to remain confused: Comprehension of legal rights in police interrogations. Paper presented at the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology Conference, Ottawa, Ontario.
Freedman, S. & Eastwood, J. (2013, September). “That’s the way my Wednesdays always go”: The role of schemas in innocent suspects’ alibi creation. Poster presented at the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology Conference, Ottawa, Ontario.
Chaulk, S. J., Snook, B., & Eastwood, J. (2012, June). Predicting police caution comprehension in adult offenders: What do they already know? Poster presented at the Canadian Psychology Association Conference, Halifax, Canada.