Mock Juror Perceptions of Child Witnesses on the Autism Spectrum: The Impact of Providing Diagnostic Labels and Information About Autism.

Publisher: Springer Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 7904301 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1573-3432 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01623257 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Autism Dev Disord Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: <2006- >: New York, NY : Springer
Original Publication: New York, Plenum Press.

Judicial Role*; Autism Spectrum Disorder/*psychology ; Crime/*psychology ; Criminal Law/*methods ; Mental Competency/*psychology; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Decision Making ; Female ; Humans ; Judgment ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Perception ; Young Adult

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.

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ES/J020893/2 Economic and Social Research Council; ES/N001095/1 Economic and Social Research Council

Keywords: Autism; Credibility; Criminal justice; Eyewitness memory; Jury

Date Created: 20180730 Date Completed: 20200929 Latest Revision: 20200929

20231215

PMC7211190

10.1007/s10803-018-3700-0

30056502