NCJ Number
207959
Date Published
June 2004
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This conference paper reviews various studies and issues in Australia that pertain to the social and psychological factors likely to influence the stress experienced by jurors.
Abstract
Factors that can influence the stress experienced by jurors include the social conditions that affect jurors drawn from small towns and rural areas, where jurors may know the defendant, the victim, and their families, and where community values and opinions about the crime may bring added pressure on jurors. Jury research in Australia has found that jurors' experience of stress is also affected by juror management and physical issues, such as time delays, insufficient information, court refusal to comply with juror requests, and conditions of accommodation. Other studies have shown that "notorious" and gruesome crimes and trials place additional stress on jurors. An evaluation of the New South Wales (Australia) Juror Support Program (JSP), which was established in 2000, was conducted in 2001. Although the aim of the evaluation was to examine the appropriateness of the JSP, the effectiveness of its administration, and its capacity to meet jurors' needs, jurors also reported on some of the factors that contributed to anxiety and stress in the course of their jury service. These included worry about the verdict and its impact, frustration with jury room dynamics and the legal process, and curiosity about sentencing and the appeal process. The jurors more likely to be satisfied with their experience on the jury tended to be older, male, English-speaking, and first-time jurors. Jurors more likely to be dissatisfied with their service were on juries that did not agree on a verdict, women on juries that rendered a guilty verdict, Supreme Court jurors, and jurors in murder trials. 13 references