New publication: Scrutinising gut feelings: emotional reflexive practices in Italian courts

The article shows that gut feelings are experienced as intuitive knowledge – when judges and prosecutors feel they know ‘in their heart’ or ‘inside them’ the ‘true story’ of the crime, but they also contrast this type of knowledge with the ‘objective story’ based on the evidence available in a case. The analysis indicates two main emotional practices used to manage gut feelings. First, legal encoding – the translation of lay narratives into legal categories – constitutes an emotion management strategy that legal professionals can use, individually or collectively, to distance their gut feelings, restricting interest to aspects of the story validated by the evidence. Second, gut feelings can be endorsed, rather than constricted, when they generate suspicion that something ‘hidden’ has to be found out, or curiosity of knowing more about the story than what is strictly relevant under the legal frame. Gut feelings and curiosity mostly emerged in relation to the motive behind murder cases. By showing how legal professionals use their gut feelings, the article contributes to reinforcing an understanding of emotions and emotional reflexivity as necessary for rational decisions.