The Dynamic And Fragile Nature Of Eyewitness Memory, Child Sexual Abuse, Police Discretion With PWUD, And The Potential Impact Of COVID-19 On Jury Convictions

Eyewitness Memory and Attention Lapses

The topic of the article is the dynamic and fragile nature of eyewitness memory. Here in this article, it talks about how Eyewitnesses are typically subject to remembrance lapses and memory illusions. These mistakes and aberrations are impacted by numerous causes. The current review examines two such essential elements, attention lapses, and stress. We claim that extreme stress, commonly experienced by spectators and crime victims, directly alters attentional resources, which likely has indirect effects on memory. Selective attention deficits may result in persons overlooking something unexpected or significant in a complicated visual field. Amongst eyewitnesses, this might lead to people missing facts, especially odd or essential primary ones, surrounding the incident (Beckett, 2016).

This article also focuses on the fact that interestingly, few research has explored visual attention deficits in eyewitnesses settings, and none have examined the association between stress, concentration, and witness recall. This paper will analyze the consequences of attentional failures, notably those originating from visual attention, in practical settings in order to bridge to eyewitnesses’ situations. In particular, we will link the practical research on visual attention deficits with the knowledge that studies the impacts of excitation and stress on concentration. We will finish by discussing how future studies may pull out the distinct effects of excitation and stress on visual attention successes and mistakes and how this study may enrich the knowledge of eyewitness accuracy (Rossner & Tait 2021).

This article also talks about that people who observe crimes, especially those who may be victims of crime, are obliged to recall complete and timely information about the acts they observed and to report it to authorities. They are interrogated frequently and are asked to recall minor, possibly peripheral facts of crimes, such as the identity of other possible eyewitnesses, as well as more key data, such as the kind of weaponry available during the crime scene investigation. These particulars are often critical sources of evidence that are employed in investigations as well as in the area of legal actions.

The topic of the article is  Child Victims of sexual abuse often accused of lying to police. Child abuse and child violence is a very common social issues. Sexual abuse of children is also termed as child harassment. It is a kind of juvenile abuse in which an adult utilizes a child for sexual pleasure.

This article mainly talks about a study and according to the study with the help of a thorough investigation of sexual abuse of children in England and Wales, it can be seen that the families of victims of sexual abuse of minors are routinely suspected of lying while  they attempt to disclose the assault to police. It was found that only a “very limited” fraction of victims aged between 11 and 21 had been comfortable with the authority’s investigation procedure. Child sexual abuse support staff told the committee that victims were often blaming authorities for delays and non-convictions which are beyond their control. As a result of their limited resources, the cops were praised for their efforts. The study included interviews with a total of 77 support staff. As a result, victims and families felt powerless and traumatized during the interview session since they weren’t made aware of what was happening (Schulenberg, 2019).

Child Victims of Sexual Abuse and Their Treatment by Authorities

This article also shows criticism about schools for not doing something to notice and react to child victimization. An Ofsted investigation during the last June showed that sexual assault and cyber sexual abuse were indeed a common part of school kids in everyday life and that instructors “continuously undervalued” the severity of the issue. The investigation also concluded that, in schools, instruction about sex and dating had been mainly poor, with some youngsters getting no idea on the subjects at all

Finally, the article concludes with the idea that Child sexual abuse is definitely a worldwide issue, frequently confounding preconceptions and prejudices, and that does not seem to be reducing with time. Globalization and contemporary technologies may raise the potential of abuse and torture, but may also give us the opportunity to enhance our responses, especially in places with limited resources. It is evident that Children’s sexual abuse is related to the risk of negative psychological and clinical issues, but procedures of adaptability have also recognized several prevention strategies. Hopefully, things will fall in a better place in the future (Szojka, 2016).

The topic of this article is police discretion in an encounter with people who use drugs. This article talks about the individuals who take drugs (PWUD) are at increased risk for health problems as a result of patrolling, but little is known about treatments that might align police actions with PWUD health. According to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the purpose of this research is to determine what factors impact police plans to make arbitrary referrals to therapy and violence prevention services instead of arresting people on less severe crimes. Techniques Police workers in Indiana, Massachusetts, and Missouri participated in online questionnaires that included TPB components and modified an instrument evaluating police intentions to provide mental health care recommendations. Questions on prejudice towards PWUD as well as views and ideas regarding opiate abuse, therapy, and recovery were included in the survey as well(Weiss & Alexander 2022).

This article gives a basic understanding of the fact that the outcome of the survey is that 259 respondents felt they had authority over their choice to detain for offenses (69 %) and seize goods such as needles across all locations (56 % ). The stated behaviors of nonarrest for substance and consumption and referring patients and nonarrest for needle storage (p.05) were connected with beliefs about others’ support of recommendations to treatment, its potential to minimize future arrests, and its ability to enhance confidence in the police. The perception of PWUD as having a negative stigma was shown to be linked with reported practices of nonarrest (p.05). Among the factors found as having the most impact on the exercise of discretion were supervisors, the severity of the infraction, which was the most significant value, and the mindset of the suspect, which was the most relevant situational element. The Cronbach’s alpha for the 17 items on the Likert scale that were evaluated was 0.81. Conclusion The TPB has untapped potential for improving our understanding of and ability to adjust police practices. Further investigation should affirm sensors that measure the relationship between these two variables and discretionary intentions, as well as devices that measure position police stereotype towards PWUD, before they can be used in the design of treatments to improve the health status of police interactions with PWUD (Willmott, 2021).

Police Discretion in Encounters with People Who Use Drugs

The topic of the article is the opinion on The pandemic might be producing juries that are more likely to convict.  This article talks regarding the significant obstacles that have arisen for the criminal justice process because of the coronavirus epidemic, including breakouts in prisons, choosing when and where to schedule trials, and defendants lingering in prison for weeks on minor offenses. Additionally, covid-19 may have a major impact on the selection process for jurors, a change that is less evident yet significant (Wilson, 2020).

This article talks about the defense lawyers who have claimed in the past that jurors aren’t reflective of the communities in which they are tried. Due to the obvious reasons that  low remuneration and the time commitment necessary away from the office or family, the poor and those earning an hourly rate are significantly less likely to appear on juries than other groups. In addition, those who do deploy are more likely to be self-sufficient in terms of mobility and childcare. Individuals in their retirement years are much more capable of serving on juries, while younger people are less likely. Those who express strong support for district attorneys are less prone to be barred from serving on juries than those who are openly critical of both. A jury will be likely to be selected by those who consider certain kinds of laws are unethical or unlawful, such as drug laws, since they are probably to be chosen. Not to mention that non-White persons are consistently and disproportionately barred from serving on jurors in our country.

This article elaborates the fact that as a result of the delay in trials, some defense lawyers claim that certain judges are less interested in ensuring that the juries in their cases are reflective of the society. This article also criticize when jurors are summoned, they may be asked if they have any health-related worries about sitting in a courthouse or jury chamber for a lengthy amount of time in certain jurisdictions. It has been reported to me by the defense lawyers in Kentucky, New Jersey, and St. Louis that jurors who voice these kinds of concerns are disqualified for lack of competency. This is a difficult situation, and there is no quick fix. A swift trial was also a top priority for the criminal lawyers I met with when discussing concerns about “covid-qualified” jurors. A majority of the lawyers surveyed indicated they had clients who were imprisoned before to the epidemic on lesser offences whose trials had barely begun or had not yet started. Some of the prisoners represented by these attorneys have spent the majority of their lives in prisons plagued with covid outbreaks. Innocent customers may have pled guilty to get out of jail, which some fear may be the case. In several cases, their clients already had spent more time in prison pending trial than they’d have had they been found guilty (Wulff & Thomas, 2021).  

References

Beckett, K. (2016). The uses and abuses of police discretion: Toward harm reduction policing. Harv. L. & Pol’y Rev., 10, 77.

https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/harlpolrv10&section=9

Rossner, M., & Tait, D. (2021). Presence and participation in a virtual court. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 17488958211017372.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/17488958211017372

Schulenberg, J. L. (2016). Police decision-making in the gray zone: The dynamics of police–citizen encounters with mentally ill persons. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 43(4), 459-482.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0093854815606762

Szojka, Z. A., Andrews, S. J., Lamb, M. E., Stolzenberg, S. N., & Lyon, T. D. (2017). Challenging the credibility of alleged victims of child sexual abuse in Scottish courts. Psychology, public policy, and law, 23(2), 200.

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-02990-001

Weiss, K. J., & Alexander, J. (2022). Sex, lies, and statistics: Inferences from the child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law, 41, 412-20.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4028087

Willmott, D., Boduszek, D., Debowska, A., & Hudspith, L. (2021). Jury decision making in rape trials: An attitude problem?. Forensic psychology, 94-119.

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=cMAsEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA94&dq=Willmott,+D.,+Boduszek,+D.,+Debowska,+A.,+%26+Hudspith,+L.+(2021).+Jury+decision+making+in+rape+trials:+An+attitude+problem%3F.+Forensic+psychology,+94-119.&ots=FeX4w7rgAR&sig=RTnEerqx97LELLYdaTAnCVWkMfc

Wilson, M. D. (2020). The Pandemic Juror. Wash. & Lee L. Rev. Online, 77, 65.

https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/waleelro77&section=8

Wulff, A. N., & Thomas, A. K. (2021). The dynamic and fragile nature of eyewitness memory formation: Considering stress and attention. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 1217.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.666724/full