Citation

Kinstle TL, Hodell EC, Golding JM. J. Interpers. Violence 2008; 23(9): 1143-1161.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0886260508314294

PMID

18272720

Abstract

An experiment investigated mock juror perceptions of elder abuse using a community sample from Lexington, Kentucky. Two-hundred six men and women ranging in age from 18 to 88 read a fictional criminal trial summary of a case of elder physical abuse (EPA) in which the accuser was described as healthy, frail, or confused. In addition, the influence of participant age, participant gender, and attitude toward the elderly on juror perceptions of EPA was also investigated. Results showed that women had higher conviction rates than did men. Accuser health status, participant age, participant gender, and attitude toward the elderly affected other rating variables including accuser believability, accuser inaccuracy, defendant believability, and verdict confidence. Results suggest implications for how EPA cases are perceived in court.

Language: en