Type:	Journal Article
Title:	The effect of gender in the perception of elder physical abuse in court
Other Titles:	Law and human behavior
Authors:	Kinstle, Terri L Marsil, Dorothy F Golding, Jonathan Yozwiak, John A
Keywords:	Older people;Criminal justice responses
Year:	2005
Publisher:	Plenum Pub. Corp
Citation:	29 (5), October 2005
Notes:	General Overview: This US article presents findings from two experiments that investigated mock jurors’ perceptions of elder abuse in a physical assault case. Objective: This article makes the observation that increasingly the courts will see cases involving elder abuse (i.e. physical force resulting in injury, pain or impairment, occurring in a domestic setting or residential facility). The purpose of this study was to examine how elderly victims of abuse are perceived by jurors, and whether the age or gender of the victim has an impact on verdicts. Methods: The study involved two experiments involving mock jurors. In the first experiment 116 participants (psychology students) acted as jurors. They read a fictional criminal trial summary of a physical assault case in which the alleged victim was 66, 76, or 86 years old. In the second experiment, 132 participants (psychology students), who did not take part in Experiment 1, were informed about the age of the alleged victim (who was 76 years old) but the gender of both the victim and the defendant were not disclosed. Results: The majority of participants voted for a guilty verdict. In Experiment 1, victim age did not have an effect on the verdict. In Experiment 2, participant’s gender was found to have a large impact on how elder abuse victims are perceived. The results showed that more female jurors believed the alleged victim and gave a guilty verdict than male jurors. This was particularly so if the alleged victim’s daughter was accused of the crime. Conclusions: The experiments show that the gender of jurors had a definite impact on the verdicts. This gender difference is consistent with research that has examined perceptions of other forms of abuse in courtrooms, such as child sexual abuse, spouse abuse and rape. The article concludes by calling for more research of juror perceptions of elder abuse, given the likely increase in cases. It is argued that through a greater understanding of this process, victims can be better supported at court and the criminal justice process developed as an effective intervention for abuse.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/12241
ISSN:	0147-7307
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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