Tom R. Tyler
Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology and Co-Founding Director of The Justice Collaboratory
tom.tyler@yale.edu • LinkedIn
“[The] policing model of using force to compel compliance lowers the crime rate but does not build trust. The crime rate has declined about 75% in the last 30 years, but public trust in the police hasn’t increased at all.”
Tom R. Tyler is the Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology at Yale Law School, as well as a Co-Founding Director of The Justice Collaboratory.
He is also a professor (by courtesy) at the Yale School of Management. He joined the Yale Law faculty in January 2012 as a professor of law and psychology. He was previously a University Professor at New York University, where he taught in both the psychology department and the law school. Prior to joining NYU in 1997, he taught at the University of California, Berkeley, and at Northwestern University.
Professor Tyler’s research explores the role of justice in shaping people’s relationships with groups, organizations, communities, and societies. In particular, he examines the role of judgments about the justice or injustice of group procedures in shaping legitimacy, compliance, and cooperation. He is the author of several books, including Why People Cooperate (2011); Legitimacy and Criminal Justice (2007); Why People Obey the Law (2006); Trust in the Law (2002); and Cooperation in Groups (2000). He was awarded the Harry Kalven prize for “paradigm shifting scholarship in the study of law and society” by the Law and Society Association in 2000, and in 2012, was honored by the International Society for Justice Research with its Lifetime Achievement Award for innovative research on social justice.
He holds a B.A. in psychology from Columbia and an M.A. and Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Projects
Books
Legitimacy-Based Policing and the Promotion of Community Vitality
Published on 1/26/2023 by Cambridge University Press
Cooperation in Groups: Procedural Justice, Social Identity, and Behavioral Engagement
Published on 03/13/2013 by Routledge
Trust in the Law: Encouraging Public Cooperation with the Police and Courts
Published on 10/10/2002 by Russell Sage Foundation
Advanced Introduction to Law and Psychology
Published on 1/31/2022 by Edward Elgar Publishing
Why Children Follow Rules: Legal Socialization and the Development of Legitimacy
Published on 1/16/2018 by Oxford University Press
Why People Cooperate: The Role of Social Motivations
Published on 9/27/2010 by Princeton University Press
Why People Obey the Law
Published on 5/7/2006 by Princeton University Press