Dr. Harrington's areas of research include the ideology and decisions of members of the United States Supreme Court, the provocation defense to murder, the nocebo (negative placebo) effect, and mental health law. He joined The Chicago School in 2005 and teaches statistics, research methods, and Mental Health Law. Dr. Harrington's community involvement includes serving on the board of advisors for the National Center for Reason and Justice and serving on the IRB Committee for the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. 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.

• 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

Select Presentations

• Harrington, E. (2012). Battle of the Experts: Do Opposing Experts Nullify Each Other? Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• Harrington, E. (2011). Heat of Passion: The Role of Emotion in the Provocation Defense to Murder. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, Miami, FL.
• Harrington, E. (2010, September). The “Gay Panic” Variation of the Provocation Defense: Experimental Results from a National Survey. Paper presented at the University of Illinois - Chicago Social Psychology Division "brown bag" lecture series.
• Harrington, E. (2010, September). The “Gay Panic” Variation of the Provocation Defense: Summary of Cases and Experimental Data. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Criminal Justice Association, Chicago, IL.
• Harrington, E. (2010, May). The Supreme Court: Ideology, Utilization of Social Science Research, and Decision Making in Mental Health Law Cases. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL.
• Harrington, E. (2009, June). Extreme Emotional Disturbance: Regional Differences in Attribution of Guilt when Defendants use a Provocation Defense. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health, New York, NY

Community Involvement

• Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, IRB Committee
• 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)
• American Psychological Society (APS)
• American Psychological Association (APA)
• International Academy of Law and Mental Health (IALMH)
• International Society for Research on Aggression (ISRA)
• Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA)
• Midwest Psychological Association (MPA)

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.

Q: Please provide a statement or philosophy regarding the practice of psychology.
A: I believe academic psychology can make important contributions to change in our society. These contributions may be small yet have a large impact, such as when psychological research contributes to improving our every-day lives; these contributions may at times be dramatic, such as when social policies are implemented based on psychological research.

Q: Why did you choose to enter the field of psychology?
A: Growing up in New York City, I witnessed a great deal of group behavior. A pivotal event occurred when I found myself in the midst of a large and violent riot. Amazingly, bystanders did not appear frightened by police officers who were clubbing and beating dozens of people. Later in college, I learned this was a variation of "diffusion of responsibility." From that point on, I focused my attention on psychology.