| 1. |
- Alfredsson, Helen, 1975, et al.
(författare)
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Blame attribution in a stranger rape case: Perpetrator characteristics and participant gender
- 2011
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Ingår i: Society of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, conference 27-29 June, 2011, NYC..
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In rape blame research perpetrator characteristics is understudied. The relative independence of perpetrator blame and victim blame is also unclear. Using a community sample (N=161), we investigated participant gender, perpetrator age and previous conviction influencing blame attributions using a vignette methodology. Perpetrator age had no effect, but interactions were found between participant gender and perpetrator previous conviction: men attributed more victim blame and less perpetrator blame when the perpetrator had a previous conviction. For women the effect was reversed. Results indicate that increased perpetrator blame is associated to decreased victim blame. Moreover, perpetrator characteristics are relevant in blame attribution research.
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| 2. |
- Alfredsson, Helen, 1975, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of perpetrator characteristics and participants belief in a just world on blame attribution of rape victims
- 2011
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Ingår i: the 21th Conference of the European Association of Psychology and Law (EAPL), 2010, Miami..
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Rape victims are often the subject of secondary victimization when being blamed for their assaults. In an experiment using a community sample (N=161), we investigated the effect of perpetrator characteristics; age and previous conviction, participants gender and belief in a just world on blame attributions using a vignette methodology. Results show that female participants attributed most victim blame when the perpetrator had a previous conviction, although male participants attributed most victim blame when the perpetrator had no such history. It seems as features of the perpetrator can influence allocation of victim blame and that gender of the observer also matters.
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| 3. |
- Landström, Sara, 1980
(författare)
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How different presentation modes affect the evaluation of witnesses
- 2008
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Ingår i: The Stockholm Criminology Symposium.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Videotaped and closed circuit testimonies are often used in legal procedures, but little is known about the psychological effects of these courtroom technologies. The present research series contains three studies, which all examines how different presentation modes affect observers’ perception and veracity assessment of child witnesses. In the first study, truth-telling and lying children were interviewed (about an interaction with a stranger). Mock jurors (N = 136) viewed the children’s testimonies (either live or on video), rated their perception of the children and assessed the children’s veracity. Live observers rated the children’s statements as being more convincing than did video observers. The overall deception detection performance was 59.6%, which was significantly different from the level of chance. Live observers were better than chance, but not better than the video observers, in assessing veracity. Moreover, live observers believed they had a better memory of the children’s statements than video observers, and they also showed a significantly better memory performance. In the second study, truth-telling and lying children were viewed and assessed by adult mock jurors (N = 240) either live, via two-way closed-circuit television (CCTV), or via pre-recorded video. The mock jurors rated their perception of the children’s testimonies and assessed the children’s veracity. The results showed that live observers perceived the children in more positive terms than did the CCTV observers, who in turn perceived the children in more positive terms than did the video observers. The observers’ overall deception detection accuracy was mediocre (58.3%). The third and final study investigated the effects of different camera perspectives on adults’ perception and assessment of videotaped child testimonies. Truth-telling and lying children were interviewed and videotaped simultaneously by four cameras, each taking a different visual perspective (close-up shot/child only, medium shot/child only, medium shot/child and interviewer, long shot/child and interviewer). Mock jurors (N = 256) rated their perception of the children and assessed the veracity of the statements. Children seen in long shot were perceived in more positive terms, and children seen in close-up were perceived as having to think harder. The adult’s deception detection accuracy was at chance level. Taken together, the results showed that the presentation mode affected the observers’ perception of the witnesses’ testimonies. Thus, the research suggests that legal policy-makers should consider the outcome of psycho-legal research on different presentation modes when establishing and/or reforming standards for police interviews and courtroom procedures.
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| 4. |
- Adolfsson, Kerstin, 1988, et al.
(författare)
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Hur ser yrkesverksamma på sitt arbete med våldtäktsutredningar och bemötande av utsatta?
- 2017
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Ingår i: Brottsoffermyndighetens viktimologiska forskarkonferens, Stockholm, 21 november, 2017.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Tidigare psykologisk forskning har fokuserat på varför utsatta inte vill anmäla sexualbrott eller väljer att hoppa av under utredningen. I denna studie svarade 237 polisanställda, åklagare och sjukvårdspersonal på en webbenkät med syfte att fånga upp deras perspektiv på att arbeta med våldtäktsfall och bemöta personer som blivit utsatta för våldtäkt. Frågorna gällde hinder i deras yrkesutförande, om de kunde se rutiner i deras arbete som kan uppfattas som stötande ur de utsattas perspektiv, förtroende för rättsväsendet, falska anmälningar samt kunskap om reaktioner och beteenden hos våldtäktsutsatta. De fick även ta ställning till våldtäktsmyter. Resultatet visade att äldre respondenter hade högre förtroende för rättssystemet än yngre, och att åklagare kände högre förtroende än polisanställda. Polisanställda ansåg att falska anmälningar var vanligare, jämfört med åklagare och sjukvårdspersonal. Detsamma gällde yngre respondenter och respondenter med högre acceptans av våldtäktsmyter.
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| 5. |
- Adolfsson, Kerstin, 1988, et al.
(författare)
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Professionals’ perception of meeting rape victims and handling cases of rape
- 2017
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Ingår i: 59th Research Seminar, Nordiska samrådet för kriminologi (NSfK). Örenäs: 9-11 maj.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- As the final part of a three-year project regarding attitudes toward victims of rape, a survey study was conducted with the aim to gain knowledge concerning difficulties and possibilities in handlings of rape victims and rape cases. An online survey was sent out to professionals working within the police, the healthcare system and prosecutors across Sweden, who meet victims of rape through their daily work. We wanted to get the professionals’ perspective and wondered if they could contribute with knowledge concerning why rapes are not being reported and why so few of the reports proceed to court. Over 230 professionals took the survey. They answered questions concerning perceived obstacles for their work performance, their trust in the justice system, knowledge and further education in victim behaviour and reactions, suggestions for improved treatment of rape victims, how their work would be affected by a possibly broader legislation, and police officers’ view on giving information about counsel for an injured party at an early stage of the investigation. Participants also had to consider statements regarding myths about rape. Data was analysed both separate as well as across professions and the results from this study will be presented at the conference. The title of the full project is Victim blaming in rape cases: Empirical studies of understudied situations. It is partly financed by the Swedish Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority and conducted by researchers at the psychology department at the University of Gothenburg. The aim of the project was to enhance knowledge about blame attributions in rape cases and to use variables, situations and group of participants not previously included in experimental studies.
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| 6. |
- Adolfsson, Kerstin, 1988, et al.
(författare)
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Professionals’ perceptions of handling cases of rape
- 2017
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Ingår i: The 13th meeting of the Nordic Network for research on Psychology and Law (NNPL). Katowice, Poland: 22-23 September.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A survey study was conducted with the aim to gain knowledge concerning difficulties and possibilities in handlings of rape victims and rape cases among Swedish professionals. An online survey was taken by 237 police employees, prosecutors and healthcare personnel, who meet victims of rape in their daily work. The survey included questions concerning obstacles for the respondents work performance, trust in the justice system, false reports and further education in victim behaviour and reactions. The respondents were also asked to provide suggestions for improved treatment of rape victims and cases of rape, and police officers’ view on giving information about counsel for an injured party at an early stage of the investigation. Respondents also had to consider statements regarding rape myths. Data was analysed both separate as well as across professions. Trust in the justice system was affected by respondent age and profession. Older respondents had higher trust in the justice system and prosecutors had significantly higher levels of trust in the justice system compared to police employees. Police employees believed there were significantly more false reports of rape compared to both prosecutors and health care personnel. This was also true for younger respondents (compared to older) and respondents with higher levels of rape myth acceptance (compared with lower levels). More results and discussion about implications will be presented at the conference.
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| 7. |
- Adolfsson, Kerstin, 1988, et al.
(författare)
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Victim blame in single versus multiple perpetrator rape cases
- 2016
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Ingår i: The 26th meeting of the European Association of psychology and Law (EAPL), Toulouse, France, July 5-8, 2016.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Substantial research has been conducted in the field of victim blaming, but still we do not fully understand the complexity of how and why people tend to blame rape victims. Two important aspects that have been more or less neglected in previous research within the field of victim blame are multiple perpetrator rape cases and the level of force used by the perpetrator(s). Since the prevalence of acquaintance rape is higher than of stranger rape, we conducted two experiments using a setting in which rapes may occur but not typically included in previous research. According to Swedish legislation, a rape situation with more than one perpetrator is considered an aggravated crime, irrespective of the level of force used. However, we wanted to examine if the level of force used and/or number of perpetrators had any impact on levels of blame attributed to the victim. To investigate this we conducted an online multi-experimental study with a Swedish community sample. Participants read a scenario describing a rape and thereafter provided ratings of victim blame, Belief in a Just World and Rape Myth Acceptance, as well as their trust in the Swedish justice system and self-experience of sexual victimization. All scenarios described the same four people and the relation between them, colleagues, was held constant. In the first experiment (N = 1704), number of perpetrators (one or three) was manipulated. We used number of perpetrators and participant gender as independent variables and victim blame as the dependent variable. In the second experiment we held number of perpetrators (three) constant but manipulated the level of force used. Level of force and participant gender were the independent variables and victim blame the dependent variable. At the conference in Toulouse we will present the results from our ongoing statistical analyses, in the hope of bringing new, important knowledge of victim blaming attitudes.
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| 8. |
- Ask, Karl, 1978, et al.
(författare)
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Why emotions matter: A test of stereotype and empathy accounts of the 'emotional victim effect'
- 2009
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Ingår i: 19th Conference of the European Association of Psychology and Law, 2-5 September, Sorrento, Italy.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- It has been shown repeatedly that rape victims displaying controlled behavior when recounting the crime are judged as less credible than victims displaying negative emotions. Researchers have assumed that this is a result of stereotypes about crime victim reactions, but the actual mechanism has never been tested directly. In this paper, an alternative account is presented, proposing that the advantage of the emotional victim could lie in its ability to invoke stronger empathic-emotional reactions in the observer. The two accounts were pitted against each other in an experiment: Should the stereotype account be correct, then placing the observer under cognitive load would increase the effect of a victim’s emotional display. In contrast, should the empathy account be correct, then cognitive load would reduce the effect. One hundred eighty-nine police trainees watched a videotaped statement of an actress portraying a rape victim. The victim’s emotional display (emotional vs. neutral) and observers’ cognitive load while watching the statement (additional memory task vs. no memory task) were manipulated. Results showed that the emotional victim was believed more than the neutral victim, and that the effect was stronger under cognitive load. In addition, the effect was fully mediated by the match between the woman’s actual behavior and observers’ expectations. No evidence for a meditational role of observers’ own emotional reactions was found. In sum, the study provides empirical support for the traditional stereotype account, and has clear practical implications, showing that cognitive load increases the risk of attributional errors in judgments of victim credibility.
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| 9. |
- Clemens, Franziska, 1981, et al.
(författare)
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Skulking around the dinosaur statue: Detecting children's deception via strategic disclosure of evidence
- 2008
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Ingår i: Paper presented at the 5th meeting of the Nordic Network for Research in Psychology and Law (NNPL), 10-11 October 2008 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Since previous studies have shown the potential of late disclosure of evidence as a deception detection tool, this study examined whether or not these results can be replicated with children as liars and truth-tellers. It was hypothesized that the deception detection accuracy in the late disclosure condition would be significantly higher than in the early disclosure condition. In an experiment, 168 adult observers judged the veracity of 84 children (12–14 years), interviewed separately about a mock crime they had (liars) or had not (truth-tellers) committed. In half of the interviews the evidence was disclosed early, in the other half late. The accuracy rate was 56% for the early disclosure condition, and 63.1% for the late disclosure condition (a non-significant difference). Furthermore, the observers were better at detecting truthful statements (70.2%), than lies (48.8%). We will discuss the results in relation to past research and in terms of statement-evidence inconsistency.
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| 10. |
- De La Fuente Vilar, Alejandra, 1988, et al.
(författare)
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Gaining Witness Cooperation: An International Survey of Investigative Interviewers
- 2019
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Ingår i: Paper presentation at the European Association of Psychology and Law conference, Santiago de Compostela, Spain..
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The application of interviewing strategies to gather accurate and detailed witness accounts is highly dependent on witness cooperation. However, some witnesses who recall the crime are unwilling to be involved in the criminal investigation. For example, some uncooperative witnesses are resistant to disclose valid information to aid the case, while others who have been intimidated or are hostile towards the police are simply reluctant to talk. Therefore, lack of witness cooperation represents a significant obstacle to law enforcement gathering witness evidence. Furthermore, emergent research indicates that lack of cooperation is detrimental to the amount and accuracy of information disclosed by witnesses, and that it affects how investigative interviews are conducted. Thus, we focus this research on how practitioners overcome lack of witness cooperation and interview initially uncooperative witnesses. Study purpose: To conduct the first examination of current investigative interviewing of uncooperative witnesses from an international practitioner’s perspective. We examined practitioner’s beliefs regarding and witnesses’ motives to cooperate and not cooperate in criminal investigations. In addition, we aimed to learn the prevalence and relevance of this topic according to their experience, as well as which strategies practitioners believe to be effective specifically to interview witnesses who are unwilling to cooperate and disclose information. Method: Police officers who conduct witness interviews took part in an online survey. Participants (N = 227) were investigative interviewers across different police services in The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Canada, and Australia. Results: Data are currently being translated, analysed and will be presented at the conference. We expect interviewing of uncooperative witnesses to be different across countries according to police interviewing experience, training, institutional demands and each country’s tradition of interviewing, whether information gathering or accusatorial. Specifically, we predict that practitioners’ belief that witnesses ought to cooperate, together with lack of training and flexibility influence the perception of effectiveness of interviewing strategies that in fact interfere with the task of gaining and maintaining cooperation (e.g., using closed and probative questions). In addition, we expect that current practice does not target how to increase motivation to cooperate and is detrimental to witnesses’ memory processes (e.g., poor rapport building). Lastly, practitioners aiming to overcome lack of witness cooperation may be resorting to interviewing strategies which have unknown consequences for the validity and reliability of witness accounts, such as legal warnings about lying and withholding information, moral appeals, or anonymity incentives. Conclusions: Findings from this research are of vital importance to reflect and improve the quality of witness interviewing by identifying and changing practice that does not promote cooperation or increases witness reluctance to disclose information. In addition, understanding how interviewers’ beliefs regarding witness cooperation (and lack thereof) affect information gathering during investigative interviews is necessary to inform interviewing training and lines of research that examine the effects of current practice on witness accounts considering their importance to advance criminal investigations and as evidence in court. Most importantly, given the practical relevance of this topic, future research examining field data is warranted to examine the extent to which practitioner’s beliefs, perceptions and experiences of interviewing uncooperative witnesses affect real witness interviewing practice.
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