Sarah MacDonald

Sarah MacDonald

Education:
BSc (Dalhousie University)
MSc (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
PhD (Memorial University of Newfoundland)

Email: smmacdonald@mtroyal.ca

TEACHING
  • PSYC 2285 Psychopathology
  • PSYC 3406 Counselling and Psychotherapy
RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Investigative Interviewing Practices; Forensic Interviewing of Children and Vulnerable Populations; Child Sexual Abuse Disclosure

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

MacDonald, S. Price, H., Lamb, ME., Parker, NJ., Binford, W., Dimitropoulos, G. (2025). Questioning the Expertise of “Experts” who Recommend Active Hypothesis Testing in Child Forensic Interviews. Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 76, 26–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfcj.70016

Azzopardi, C., Eirich, R., Rash, C.L., MacDonald, S., & Madigan, S. (2019). A Meta-Analysis of the Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse Disclosure in Forensic Settings. Child Abuse & Neglect, 93, 291-304.

* Winner of "Outstanding Research Article of the Year" by the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC)

MacDonald, S., Keeping, Z., Luther, K., & Snook, B. (2017). Don't Lie to Me, or Else: The Effect of a Turncoat Warning and Rapport Building on Perceptions of Witness Interviews. Journal of Police & Criminal Psychology, 32(3), 263-277.

MacDonald, S., Snook, B., & Milne, R. (2017). Witness interview training: A field evaluation. Journal Of Police & Criminal Psychology, 32(1), 77-84.

Luther, K., Snook, B., MacDonald, S., & Barron, T. (2015). Securing the Admissibility of Witness Statements: Estimating the Complexity and Comprehension of Canadian “KGB Warnings”. Journal of Police & Criminal Psychology, 30, 166-175. 

Bennell, C., Snook, B., MacDonald, S., House, J. C., & Taylor, P. J. (2012). Computerized Crime Linkage Systems: A Critical Review and Research Agenda. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39, 620-637. 

Snook, B., House, J., MacDonald, S., & Eastwood, J. (2012). Police interview training, supervision, and feedback practices: A brief survey of Canadian police officers. Canadian Journal of Criminology & Criminal Justice, 54, 363-372. 

ten Brinke, L., MacDonald, S., Porter, S., & O’Connor, B. (2011). Crocodile tears: Facial, verbal and body language behaviours associated with genuine and fabricated remorse. Law & Human Behavior, 36, 51-59. 

Snook, B., Eastwood, J., & MacDonald, S. (2010). A descriptive analysis of how Canadian police officers administer the right-to-silence and right-to-legal counsel cautions. Canadian Journal of Criminology & Criminal Justice, 52(5), 545-560. 

BOOK CHAPTERS

Watkins, K., Eastwood, J., MacDonald, S., (forthcoming) Interviewing and Investigation. Fifth Edition. Emond. (In Process)

MacDonald, S. & Eastwood, J. (2022). Interviewing vulnerable witnesses. In K. Watkins, J. Turtle, & J. Euale (Eds.) Interviewing and Investigation (4th ed.). Emond Montgomery.

Snook, B., Luther, K., & MacDonald, S. (2014). Linking crimes with spatial behaviour. In C. Bennell & J. Woodhams (Eds.), Crime linkage: Theory, research, and practice. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press