Mock juror perceptions of child witnesses on the autism spectrum: the impact of providing diagnostic labels and information about autism

Crane, L., Wilcock, R., Maras, K. L. , Chui, W., Marti-Sanchez, C. & Henry, L. ORCID: 0000-0001-5422-4358 (2018). Mock juror perceptions of child witnesses on the autism spectrum: the impact of providing diagnostic labels and information about autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, doi: 10.1007/s10803-018-3700-0

Abstract

Research suggests that autistic children can provide accurate and forensically useful eyewitness evidence. However, members of a jury also rely on non-verbal behaviours when judging the credibility of a witness, and this could determine the verdict of a case. We presented mock jurors with videos (from an experimental study) of one of two child witnesses on the autism spectrum being interviewed about a mock minor crime. Results demonstrated that providing jurors with generic information about autism and/or informing them of the child’s diagnostic label differentially affected credibility ratings, but not for both children. Implications for how to present information about child witnesses with autism to a jury – highlighting the need for approaches tailored to individual children – are discussed.

Publication Type:	Article
Publisher Keywords:	autism, criminal justice, jury, credibility, eyewitness memory
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Language & Communication Science