An American Psychology-Law Society s Lawrence S. Wrightsman Book Award Winner A 2022 PROSE
Award finalist in Legal Studies and Criminology A 2022 American Bar Association Silver Gavel
Award Finalist A Behavioral Scientist s Notable Book of 2021 Freakonomics for the law how
applying behavioral science to the law can fundamentally change and explain misbehavior Why do
most Americans wear seatbelts but continue to speed even though speeding fines are higher? Why
could park rangers reduce theft by removing no stealing signs? Why was a man who stole 3 golf
clubs sentenced to 25 years in prison? Some laws radically change behavior whereas others are
consistently ignored and routinely broken. And yet we keep relying on harsh punishment against
crime despite its continued failure. Professors Benjamin van Rooij and Adam Fine draw on
decades of research to uncover the behavioral code: the root causes and hidden forces that
drive human behavior and our responses to society s laws. In doing so they present the first
accessible analysis of behavioral jurisprudence which will fundamentally alter how we
understand the connection between law and human behavior. The Behavioral Code offers a
necessary and different approach to battling crime and injustice that is based in understanding
the science of human misconduct rather than relying on our instinctual drive to punish as a way
to shape behavior. The book reveals the behavioral code s hidden role through illustrative
examples like: The illusion of the US s beloved tax refund German walls that pee back at public
urinators The $1 000 monthly good behavior reward that reduced gun violence Uber s backdoor
Greyball app that helped the company evade Seattle s taxi regulators A $2.3 billion legal
settlement against Pfizer that revealed how whistleblower protections fail to reduce corporate
malfeasance A toxic organizational culture playing a core role in Volkswagen s emissions
cheating scandal How Peter Thiel helped Hulk Hogan sue Gawker into oblivion Revelatory and
counterintuitive The Behavioral Code catalyzes the conversation about how the law can
effectively improve human conduct and respond to some of our most pressing issues today from
police misconduct to corporate malfeasance.
