Biographical Sketch

Dr. Harrington areas of expertise include the nocebo (negative placebo) effect, the psychology of terrorism, and the accuracy of child abuse accusations. He joined The Chicago School in 2005 and teaches Introduction to Forensic Psychology and Mental Health Law. Dr. Harrington’s community involvement includes serving on the board of advisors for the National Center for Reason and Justice. He did his doctoral work at Temple University after earning B.A. degrees in psychology and criminal justice from the State University of New York-Albany.

Download my Curriculum Vitae.

Current Thesis Students:

• Jennifer Booth
• Rebecca Campbell
• Edward David
• Yolanda Rivera
• Brooke Roth
• Alexa Sandell
• Elizabeth Schaumberg

Past Thesis Students:

• William David Duke
• Lynette Ellis
• Wesley English
• Brandon Heiple
• Ashley Jespersen
• Christa Jones
• Tricia Leishman
• Brian Tesch

Past and Present Thesis Reader:

• Michelle Beach
• James Berlage
• Agnieska Broniec
• Christopher Coughlin
• Renee Francisco
• Ali Levi
• Agnieszka Lupa
• Joel Martinez
• Sharon O’Connor
• Luke Rosynek
• Alexandra Sipiora
• Erin Sullivan

Education

• B.A. in Psychology, State University of New York-Albany
• B.A. in Criminal Justice, State University of New York-Albany
• Ph.D., Social Psychology, Temple University

Classes Taught

• FO610 Introduction to Forensic Psychology
• FO659 Research Methods for Thesis Students
• FO622 Mental Health Law
• FO629 Graduate Statistics
• FO658 Social Psychological and Cultural Aspects of Aggression
• FO660 Psychology of Terrorism
• FO654-657 Thesis I, II, III, IV

Areas of Interest/Expertise

• mental health law
• murder and the provocation defense
• nocebo (negative placebo) effect
• nonparametric statistics
• psychology of terrorism
• recovered memories of child abuse
• research methodology
• suggestibility
• Supreme Court decision making

Select Presentations

• Provocation as a Murder Defense: An Analysis of Appellate Cases Regarding Homosexual or “Gay Panic”
• Attitudes of Supreme Court Justices to Social Science Research
• Supreme Court Justices' Ideology and Decision Making in Mental Health Law
• CSI Effect: Myth, Menace, or MacGuffin: Media Influence and Mock Jury Verdicts
• The Nocebo Effect: The Effect of Suggestion on Reporting Physical Symptoms
• Exploring the Psychological Roots of Prejudice
• Confessions of Abuse: Recovered Memories in Priest-Penitent Confessions

Select Publications

• The Social Psychology of Hatred

Q&A

• Q: Please describe your teaching philosophy.
• A: I endeavor to give students the tools they need to be successful in the academic pursuits, be it conducting a statistical analysis, interpreting research results, writing papers, conducting experiments, or preparing a manuscript for publication.
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Community Involvement

• National Center for Reason and Justice—Board of Advisors
• Gonzaga University Institute for Action Against Hate - International conference to establish a field of hate studies

Professional Memberships

• APA Division 41 – American Psychology - Law Society (APLS)
• APA Division 9 – Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI)
• APA Division 8 – Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP)
• American Psychological Society (APS)
• International Academy of Law and Mental Health (IALMH)
• International Society for Research on Aggression (ISRA)
• Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA)
• Midwest Psychological Association (MPA)