University of Tasmania
Browse
whole_EatonTaniaE1996_thesis.pdf (8.18 MB)

Child witnesses in sexual abuse trials

Download (8.18 MB)
thesis
posted on 2023-05-27, 00:24 authored by Eaton, Tania E
Legislation allowing video technology in court has been enacted in many Australian states and territories. The modifications in court procedure associated with videolink' and videodeposition' use were proposed because of growing concerns that testifying in the courtroom environment in the defendant's presence may negatively affect both the psychological well-being of child witnesses and their ability to testify. However, these changes have been made without much control led research into their effects. It needs to be established that these changes are not only beneficial to child witnesses but also that juror perceptions of witness credibility and subsequent conviction rates are not adversely affected. Few studies have examined these issues and none have compared the impact of these two modifications on the justice system. Furthermore, the effect of the judge's instructions regarding testimony presentation mode has not been investigated using a balanced trial. Legislation allowing video technology in court has been enacted in many Australian states and territories. The modifications in court procedure associated with videolink' and videodeposition' use were proposed because of growing concerns that testifying in the courtroom environment in the defendant's presence may negatively affect both the psychological well-being of child witnesses and their ability to testify. However, these changes have been made without much control led research into their effects. It needs to be established that these changes are not only beneficial to child witnesses but also that juror perceptions of witness credibility and subsequent conviction rates are not adversely affected. Few studies have examined these issues and none have compared the impact of these two modifications on the justice system. Furthermore, the effect of the judge's instructions regarding testimony presentation mode has not been investigated using a balanced trial. This is of concern because research has indicated that the judge's instructions may have unintended effects, backfiring by sensitising jurors to inadmissible evidence. Testimony presentation mode and the judge's instructions regarding it may impact on information jurors gain from trial events and the resulting beliefs about witnesses may be magnified by jury deliberation. Research is needed to evaluate the relative effects of these variables on juror perceptions of witnesses and on conviction rates.

History

Publication status

  • Unpublished

Rights statement

Copyright 1996 the Author - The University is continuing to endeavour to trace the copyright owner(s) and in the meantime this item has been reproduced here in good faith. We would be pleased to hear from the copyright owner(s). Thesis (M.Psych.)--University of Tasmania, 1996. Includes bibliographical references

Repository Status

  • Open

Usage metrics

    Thesis collection

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC