The relationship between guilt experience and Guilt attribution in court proceedings

Description

It is very common that people subjected to crime experience guilt, and it is often stated that victims are attributed guilt in court proceedings. This has primarily been discussed in relation to rape and men’s violence against women. However, the relationship between experienced guilt and attribution of guilt is complex. Victims may have feelings of guilt regardless of what has been said during a court proceeding. Similarly, it is not certain that apparently guilt-attributing statements actually lead to feelings of guilt. There is, basically, no research that sheds light on which behaviours during a court hearing cause feelings of guilt.

The purpose of the project is to investigate the relationship between crime victims’ experiences of guilt and guilt-attributing discursive practices in court proceedings. To capture a variety of cultural contexts and understanding of crime incidents, three kinds of criminal cases are compared. The following empirical questions are investigated:

• Do the victims experience guilt-attribution during the court proceeding?
• Do the victims experience guilt-attribution during the police investigation or through their social environment?
• Do professionals in the court perceive that guilt-attributing discursive practices exist?
• Can guilt-attributing discursive practices be observed in court hearings?
• Do professionals in court purposefully use strategies to handle the risk of guilt-attributing to victims?

These questions are analysed by comparing interviews with victims and professionals with recorded witness interrogations from district court proceedings where the interviewees participated.

The results from the project contribute to the assessment of how significant the problem of guilt-attributing to victims is in court proceedings. They can also be used to develop professional approaches that reduce the risk of guilt-attribution.