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PSY 545 SNHU Social Media and Psychologists Journal

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Psychology

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Southern New Hampshire University

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PSY 545

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fcevbfzvare2011

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1-2 Journal: Social Media and Psychologists

Social media is a powerful tool for netizens to use as a platform to express their views on

important issues. Social networking and blogging websites are used to create online communities

to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other forms of content (Zhang, 2016). In

effect, social science researchers, including psychologists, can look to social media platforms to

gather analytical data to measure attitudes towards issues such as gay rights, mental health,

abortion, false confessions, and so forth. It is likely that many have heard of the highly popular

Netflix docuseries ‘Making a Murderer’, which told the story of the murder of photographer

Theresa Holbach allegedly by Steven Avery and his nephew, Brendan Dassey. This docuseries

received a lot of media attention and created a dialogue on the issue of false confessions and

wrongful convictions because of the fact that Dassey later recanted his confession and many

believed he was coerced. He did, however, have his murder conviction upheld despite allegedly

having an intellectual disability, not having a parent present during interrogation because he was

a minor, and not having counsel present.

A recent court case Warney vs. State of New York (2011), involved a man by the name of

Douglas Warney who had a diagnosed intellectual disability and AIDS-related dementia who

was convicted of a murder that he falsely confessed to. A New York Times article credited the

American Psychological Association’s (APA) amicus briefs as being influential in the New

York’s appellate court’s ruling that his intellectual disability was known to police at the time of

his false confession and could be considered in the decision to receive reparations for his already

served time in prison (DeAngelis, 2019).

Social media is a useful tool that psychologists and other social scientists can use to

gather data on important issues such as those mentioned above. It can also help create a dialogue

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that reaches across the globe about these issues that otherwise may not have been possible

without the internet and online platforms. Before watching ‘Making a Murderer’, I did not think

much about the impact intellectual disabilities can have on those who are wrongfully convicted

due to a false confession. Through this docuseries, Netflix was able to reach a large audience

and, in a sense, encourage people to talk about the issues that may have led to Dassey’s

conviction. Likewise, I believe that having the New York Times, which also publishes stories

online, write about the influence of the APA’s amicus brief on Warney vs. State of New York

(2011) was beneficial in further ‘legitimizing’ the field of forensic psychology and the

knowledge that psychologists can apply to the legal system in general.

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1-2 Journal: Social Media and Psychologists Social media is a powerful tool for netizens to use as a platform to express their views on important issues. Social networking and blogging websites are used to create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other forms of content (Zhang, 2016). In effect, social science researchers, including psychologists, can look to social media platforms to gather analytical data to measure attitudes towards issues such as gay rights, mental health, abortion, false confessions, and so forth. It is likely that many have heard of the highly popular Netflix docuseries ‘Making a Murderer’, which told the story of the murder of photographer Theresa Holbach allegedly by Steven Avery and his nephew, Brendan Dassey. This docuseries received a lot of media attention and created a dialogue on the issue of false confessions and wro ...
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Tags: Social Media and Psychologists personal messages Forensic Psychology intellectual disabilities social networking