Harassment, stalking, victim personal statements, child sexual abuse and eyewitness testimony. Psychological commentary applied to real magistrate and Crown Court cases

Zusatztext

Project Report from the year 2016 in the subject Psychology - Forensic Psychology, Penal System, grade: Pass, University of Lincoln (University of Lincoln), course: MSc Forensic Psychology, language: English, abstract: Real court cases were used for this report, however no names and official dates are disclosed. The court cases in these examples deal with allegations of stalking and harassment as well as child sexual abuse and involve elements pertaining to Victim Personal Statments and eyewitness testimony. The first court case examined deals with a case of harassment and stalking and the treatment of Victim Personal Statements as well as police interviewing. An overview is given over the current state of psychological research on both aspects of the case; the offences of harassment and stalking, particularly in heterosexual couple relationships, and on the handling of Victim Personal Statements by police. The second court case involves allegations of child sexual abuse, with a great lapse in years between perpetration and prosecution. The case summary is followed by a psychological commentary including research findings on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony and the potential impact of child sexual abuse on the victims of abuse.

Autorenportrait

Alexander James Syder Email: a.syder@yahoo.co.uk ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS: Forensic Psychology (MSc) at University of Lincoln (Present). Psychology (MSc) at Sheffield Hallam University (September 2014 - June 2016). (GBC, MBPsS). Criminology and History (BA) Hons. University of Lincoln. Master of Science (MSc) Psychology dissertation investigated autobiographical memories in relation to future decisionmaking using a questionnaire (qualitative and quantitative) that investigated past episodic episodes of their previous experiences. The study used a mixed methods design, primarily with a thematic analysis with three themes of investigation: 'The prevalence and impact of autobiographical memories through thematic categorical classification: their impact on self-identity and self-expression'. Firstly, autobiographical memories are primarily functions of goal construction. Secondly, those memories are congruent to the self, and likely to place the participant at the centre of all previous experiences/events. Thirdly, since it is hypothesized that there will be an egocentric element to the responses, this should coincide with increased use of pronoun density. The third thematic discourse theme has analysed selective examples of the use of (I, me and my). My dissertation received a merit overall, and was praised for its interesting premise as a study that could be adapted upon in the future (Dr. Christine Wells, Dr. Anna Di Betta, Sheffield Hallam University).

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