ISSN : 2093-3843
After 5 years of evaluation and revisions of the law, jury trials are currently in operation hoping to establish trust in the judicial system, by enforcing the democratic legitimacy and creating understanding of the judicial process. Problems within the jury trials have been discussed among legal experts who are also seeking new ways to operate in a new trial system. A low application rate by defendants is certainly one of the issues frequently brought up in their discussions, which legal experts believe that systematic studies are essential to understand low application rates by defendants. In the pursuit to identify the causes, a survey was conducted with 142 inmates who were previously eligible for the trial by jury. It was found that the defendants themselves tended to have negative attitudes toward the jury trial. They also believed that judges, prosecutors, and lawyers also had negative attitudes toward the jury trials. The inmates suspected that emotion, rather than reason, would be the critical determinant of jurors’ judgments. Based on these findings, implications for vitalizing the jury trials in Korea were discussed.
This study aimed to develop a scale for measuring acute stress disorder symptom of crime victims(Victim Trauma Scale: VTS). To make a preliminary questions, researchers analyzed trauma-related scales and the acute stress disorder diagnosis criteria like DSM-5, and interviewed psychologists and police officers in charge of victim assistance. A total 283 crime victims(male 86, female 197) who experienced crimes within one month were given a set of preliminary questionnaires. Researchers examined through statistical analyses and then generated 2 factors(intrusion/arousal/avoidance, dissociation/negative feelings) and 23 items. VTS yielded excellent internal consistency. To test the validity of VTS, a total 273 (male 82, female 191) crime victim participants were selected from nationwide police stations. Construct validity was also demonstrated by good fitness levels in terms of fit Index. VTS showed high correlations with IES-R, STAI-S, and BDI, confirming its concurrent validity. Researchers have founded significant differences among high, middle, and low trauma groups who completed VTS, also suggested that cutoff score is 52, which means this scale could be a useful screening tool for decision of urgent crisis-intervention mediation. VTS appears to be a reliable and valid measurement tool for acute stress disorder symptom of crime victims, and would be useful to police officers or first responders to assist crime victims.
The objective of this study was to empirically explore the effects of structural features of interviews, such as interviewer’s attitude and drawing activities on the accuracy of children’s recall. To this end, the accuracy of memory recalls by 100 children of age 5-10 who had pediatric dentistry appointments was assessed by controlling their age, interviewer’s attitude (supportive vs. unsupportive), and whether or not they were given a chance to draw their experiences during the interview. The findings indicated that interviewer’s supportive attitude and drawing activity had positive effects on children’s recall. More specifically, children assigned to a supportive interviewer group showed higher accuracy and less error than children assigned to an unsupportive interviewer group. Furthermore, children who were given the chance of drawing provided more accurate free recall than those who were only allowed oral reporting. These results were especially heightened among children who exhibited a higher tendency of shyness. In addition, compared to older children, younger children were found to be relatively more influenced by the interviewer’s attitude and drawing activity. Based on these findings, this study discussed the significance of interviewer’s supportive communication as well as the usefulness of drawing as one of the supplementary tools during investigative interviews.