Mock Jurors' Evaluations of Child Sexual Abuse: The Impact of Memory Recovery and Therapeutic Intervention
✍ Scribed by Iris Tetford; Regina A. Schuller
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1996
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 887 KB
- Volume
- 14
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0735-3936
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
T h e present research assessed whether mock jurors' decisions in a case involving allegations of child sexual abuse would be influenced by (1) the nature. of the plaintiffs memory of the abuse (repressed, nonrepressed) and (2) therapeutic intervention (present, absent).
Participants (N=123) were given a trial s u m m a r y in which the plaintiff's memory and involvement i n therapy were systematically varied to produce four conditions. Although verdicts varied only by sex of participant, some judgments of the plaintiff's claim were more favorable to the plainin the non-repressed condition. Female participants were also less likely to believe that the claim involving memory repression was t r u W when the woman was in therapy as opposed to not in therapy. Results also indicated that people who were aware of "False Memory Syndrome" were more likely to think the plaintifFwas lying and less likely to think she was telling the truth compared to those who were not aware.
Over the past two decades numerous studies have confirmed the existence of widespread child sexual abuse in North American society (Gelles, 1987; Hotaling, Finkelhor, Kirkpamck & Strauss, 1988; Russell, 1984; The Women's Safety Project, 1993). As more and more women and men are speaking out about the sexual abuse that they endured as children, they are also seeking justice for their suffering. Civil litigation, one route available to these individuals, allows them to seek financial compensation from the alleged abuser for the injuries suffered as a result of the abuse.
Recent decisions in North American civil courts have effectively opened the doors to cases that were previously barred due to statutes of limitations. For instance, many U.S. states have now made amendments to allow delayed discovery sexual