| 1. |
- Ahola, Angela S., et al.
(författare)
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Is Justice Really Blind? : Effects of Crime Descriptions, Defendant Gender and Appearance, and Legal Practitioner Gender on Sentences and Defendant Evaluations in a Mock Trial
- 2010
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Ingår i: Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1321-8719 .- 1934-1687. ; 17:2, s. 304-324
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Two experiments were conducted to investigate how sources of information can bias the judicial process. Experiment 1 investigated the effects of photographs of victims’ injury, and of vivid verbal victim injury description, on the evaluation and sentencing of a defendant in a mock criminal trial. The participants were presented with five different crime accounts: (a) vandalism, (b) arson, (c) child abuse, (d) child molestation, and (e) homicide, all committed by male perpetrators, and were asked to evaluate the trustworthiness, culpability, aggressiveness, guilt, and other crime-relevant personality traits of the defendant, and to set imprisonment sentences. Results of Experiment 1 showed that exposure to photographs of crime victim injuries as well as vivid crime descriptions had only weak and non-significant effects on defendant evaluations, but imprisonment terms tended to be longer in the Photo condition than in the No photo condition. To further investigate the possible effects of photographic information on judicial processes for different crimes (child molestation, child abuse, homicide), Experiment 2 was conducted with legal practitioners (judges, members of Swedish juries, law students, counsels for the defence, prosecutors, police officers) as evaluators. Results showed three tendencies: (a) a ‘‘same-sex penalty effect’’: sentencing evaluators (judges, jurors) evaluated a defendant of the same gender as the evaluator, more harshly than one of the opposite gender, (b) a ‘‘male penalty effect’’: non-sentencing evaluators (police officers, counsels for the defence, prosecutors, and law students) evaluated and judged a male defendant more harshly than a female, and (c) for female non-sentencing evaluators, the male penalty effect was enhanced for the more attractive defendants. Overall, the results suggest that defendant gender, defendant appearance, evaluator gender, and evaluator profession can affect the outcome of a criminal trial.
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| 2. |
- Ahola, Angela S., et al.
(författare)
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Justice Needs a Blindfold : Effects of Gender and Attractiveness on Prison Sentences and Attributions of Personal Characteristics in a Judicial Process
- 2009
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Ingår i: Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1321-8719 .- 1934-1687. ; 16:1, s. 90-100
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study examined the effect of gender and facial characteristics of criminal offenders on attributions of crime-relevant traits. The stimulus pictures portrayed women and men of varying attractiveness. Participants were presented with pictures of these female or male faces along with accompanying crime accounts. The crime account described the individual in the picture as a person who had committed one of the following crimes: theft, fraud, drug crime, child molestation, child abuse, or homicide. After reading one case account the participants were asked to evaluate the credibility and other crime-relevant personality traits of the offender. Results showed that female defendants were rated more favourably than were male defendants. Gender worked to the advantage of the female perpetrator. There were also slight tendencies towards more lenient appraisal of the more attractive women.
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| 3. |
- Allely, Clare Sarah, et al.
(författare)
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The contributory role of an autistic presentation to miscarriage of justice in a high-profile murder case in New Zealand
- 2023
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Ingår i: PSYCHIATRY PSYCHOLOGY AND LAW. - 1321-8719 .- 1934-1687.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In New Zealand in 1985, Mr Alan Hall was convicted of murdering Arthur Easton and spent more than 19 years in prison. He was finally acquitted by the Supreme Court in 2022. In 2019, Mr Hall was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There are a number of aspects of Mr Hall's investigative interviews conducted prior to his conviction in 1985 - the questions posed to him and his responses to these - which could be interpreted as being evidence of evasiveness, remorse, lack of empathy and guilt by both the investigating interviewer and the jury and judge when the evidence from this interview was later presented in court. This article discusses how the police approach to interviewing and Alan Hall's ASD were the catalysts for a tainted investigation, prosecution and conviction. The Crown now accepts that a substantial miscarriage of justice occurred in Mr Hall's case.
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| 4. |
- Azad, Azade, et al.
(författare)
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Children's Reporting About Sexual Versus Physical Abuse : Patterns of Reporting, Avoidance and Denial
- 2015
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Ingår i: Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1321-8719 .- 1934-1687. ; 22:6, s. 890-902
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study analysed the reporting patterns of 22 sexually abused children and 23 physically abused children (all cases had been verified). Police interviews with the children were analysed in relation to the amount and type of information reported, as well as the frequency of denial and avoidance of critical information. Physically and sexually abused children reported more neutral information from the abusive acts per se than information regarding sexual or physically violent acts. The children were also high in avoidance and denial regarding information about the abuse. The physically abused children reported more severe information about physically abusive acts compared with the amount of information the sexually abused children reported about severe sexual acts. An explanation for this may have been the shameful and taboo nature of sexual abuse. It is important to undertake further investigation of how the nature and type of abuse, to which child witnesses have been exposed, may affect the reporting pattern. Such information may broaden our knowledge about how to conduct and evaluate child interviews.
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| 5. |
- Back, Christina, et al.
(författare)
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Sexually Abused Children – Prosecutors' Experiences of their Participation in the Legal Process in Sweden
- 2013
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Ingår i: Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1321-8719 .- 1934-1687. ; 20:2, s. 273-283
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of the present study was to interview prosecutors, based on their experiences working with children who have been sexually abused. The informants were seven prosecutors identified from the records of three public prosecution offices in three cities in Sweden. The informants' experiences were elicited via individual in-depth semi-structured interviews. The interviews were carried out and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Three themes emerged: (1) difficulties with evidence of criminal conduct, (2) children's special needs, and (3) children's dependence on adults. Informants' descriptions of how they perceived the children in the legal process were associated with their experience of the difficulty of finding proof of the crime. Informants were found to experience difficulties when they encounter children in the legal process. As prosecutors they often face difficulties proving that the child has been exposed to crime.
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| 6. |
- Christianson, Sven Å., et al.
(författare)
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Children as Witnesses to Homicidal Violence : What They Remember and Report
- 2013
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Ingår i: Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1321-8719 .- 1934-1687. ; 20:3, s. 366-383
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present study investigated how 96 children who have witnessed homicidal violence remember and report their experiences. The aims of the study were to describe the children's reporting pattern and to investigate background factors that could affect the children's reporting. Police interviews with the children were analysed regarding the amount and type of information reported, as well as frequency of denial, withholding and claims of memory loss. Results showed that the majority of children provided detailed reports about the homicidal violence they had witnessed, including critical details about the abuse. Results also revealed that the child's relationship to the perpetrator or the victim did not affect the children's reporting pattern, indicating that the children's willingness to report exceeds strong impact factors such as loyalty conflicts. These findings are applicable in different legal contexts dealing with child witnesses and can be used as guidance when interviewing children and evaluating their testimony.
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| 7. |
- Granhag, Pär-Anders, 1964, et al.
(författare)
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Counter-Interrogation Strategies among Small Cells of Suspects
- 2013
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Ingår i: Psychiatry Psychology and Law. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1321-8719 .- 1934-1687. ; 20:5, s. 705-712
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The current study examined the subjective interview strategies of groups of truth-tellers and liars, and compared these strategies with suspects' actual interview performance. Participants (N=126) were evenly divided as truth-tellers or liars, and were further divided into 21 groups of three individuals. Truth-tellers performed a neutral task, while liars performed a mock crime. Participants were then interviewed individually with the goal of convincing the interviewer of their innocence. Three different interview methods were used, spread evenly across veracity condition. Participants disclosed their main subjective strategy in post-interview questionnaires. The most common strategy was be honest for truth-tellers, and be restrictive and be consistent for liars. Truth-tellers' subjective strategies and actual interview performance were rated as more forthcoming than those of liars. Actual interview performance was qualified by interview type. Results are discussed in relation to research on suspect strategies and interview techniques.
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| 8. |
- Hartwig, Maria, 1981, et al.
(författare)
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Interviewing victims of repeated domestic violence: Investigators' beliefs and strategies
- 2012
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Ingår i: Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1321-8719 .- 1934-1687. ; 19:5, s. 672-681
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Most victims of domestic violence are abused repeatedly over time. Hence, investigative challenges arise concerning victims' ability to recall particular events. This research focuses on investigators' understanding of memory-based problems associated with repeated victimization and their strategies to facilitate recall. Eighty-one Swedish police officers completed a questionnaire probing their beliefs about memory for repeated events, aims of witness interviews and specific memory-enhancing techniques. A large proportion reported not making any extra preparations or using specific techniques to tackle the challenges of interviewing victims of repeated violence. However, respondents were largely aware of problematic memory features, including source monitoring errors, and they reported using scientifically supported techniques.
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| 9. |
- Holmberg, Ulf, 1946-, et al.
(författare)
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Rapport operationalized as a humanitarian interview in investigative interview settings
- 2014
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Ingår i: Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 1321-8719 .- 1934-1687. ; 21:4, s. 591-610
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study describes and tests an empirical-based theoretical model of rapport in an investigative interview context. Essential in this study is whether rapport, operationalized as the humanitarian interview, in two interviews with a six-month retention interval, had any causal effects on the respective memory performance of 146 and 127 interviewees. Independent-samples t‐tests revealed, on both occasions, that a humanitarian rapport interview led to a larger amount of reported information altogether, with more central and peripheral information, than a dominant non-rapport interview did. Regardless of the interview approach, mixed between-within analysis of variance showed a substantially larger amount of reported information in the first interview than the second. The amount of false information reported in both interviews was statistically invariable, regardless of interviewing style.
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| 10. |
- Leander, Lina, et al.
(författare)
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A sexual abuse case study : Children's memories and reports
- 2007
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Ingår i: Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1321-8719 .- 1934-1687. ; 14:1, s. 120-129
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present study examines how children, who had been exposed to a single act of sexual abuse carried out by an unfamiliar perpetrator (the same perpetrator in all cases), remembered and reported on the abuse in subsequent police interviews. Interviews with eight children were analysed with regard to the amount and type of information reported, and the number of times the children denied the sexual abuse. Documentation of the abuse (photographs and medical examinations) was analysed to verify that abuse had actually occurred. The majority of the children reported no, or very few, sexual details. Of all the event details reported, 7.6% referred to sexual acts and, in specific descriptions of the course of the sexual abuse, only 21% of the details were of a sexual nature. In addition, the youngest children expressed to the interviewer on almost 100 occasions that they did not wish to talk about the abuse. The present data indicate that children display difficulties when reporting on sexual abuse, even when the perpetrator is a stranger (i.e., when factors such as loyalty conflicts, dependence on the abuser, fear of negative consequences for the family may be excluded).
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