Hot Topics boxes discuss issues such as the decision to confess (Chapter 3), modern biometrics (chapter 4); Cameras and computers as "eyewitnesses" (Chapter 6), and risk algorithms and bias (chapter 15).

Scientific American Spotlights boxes highlight important new research, including the use and misuse of brain scans in the courtroom (Chapter 1); the cognitive burden of lying (Chapter 3); implicit racial bias and police shootings (Chapter 5); Psychopathy (Chapter 5 ); the use of projective tests in child custody cases (Chapter 13); selecting and training police officers (Chapter 14;); the relationship between mental illness and violence (Chapter 15).

Consider This boxes explore special topics in the study of psychology and the law, such as using Familial DNA to identify Criminal Suspects (Chapter 4).

Legal Spotlight boxes focus on topics related to specific legal issues. Newly featured topics include Changed Science Laws (chapter 4); Legal Issues in Competency for Execution (Chapter 8); and The Constitutionality of prohibiting an insanity defense (chapter 10).

Focus on Careers boxes give students a chance to read firsthand accounts police and forensic psychologists, social science analysts, trial consultants, violence risk experts, and correctional psychologists.

End-of-chapter Discussion and Critical Thinking Questions reinforce student learning and encourage students to think more deeply about concepts.　

Forensic identification (DNA, fingerprints, and other types of physical trace evidence), its reliance on human judgment and vulnerability to error based on perceptual and cognitive biases.

Workplace law including coverage of sexual harassment, prejudice and discrimination, work–family conflicts, and perceptions of fairness in the workplace.

Lie detection including how interrogators, lawyers, jurors, and judges attempt to detect the lies of suspects, witnesses, and criminals as well as the use of technology to reveal deception.

Corrections, including coverage sentencing decisions, imprisonment, and alternatives to prison, and research on the effectiveness of punishment and rehabilitation.

Risk assessment including the process and accuracy of predicting future dangerousness in parole in arrest, sentencing, and parole decisions.

The death penalty including exploration of topics such as deterrence, racial disparities, and the possibility of error, and decision process of capital jurors.