Random Twitter Stuff

Professor Penny Cooper @ProfPennyC tweeted:

"Autism and jurors and the ‘profound’ effect of letting them know...Here’s an important new study by Maras et al (2018) Mock Juror Perceptions of Credibility and Culpability in an Autistic Defendant @KatieMaras1"

Conclusion:

The present study aimed to examine whether disclosure of a defendant’s ASD impacted mock-juror judgements of credibility and culpability. Findings suggest that the information provided to jurors about an autistic defendant can have a profound
effect on their judgements of his likeability, honesty, blameworthiness, guilt and sentencing. With the provision of an ASD diagnosis label and further information, the defendant’s ASD was predominantly seen as the uncontrollable cause of his behaviour, compounded by the situation he was in. This has important implications not only for the courts, but also for other areas such as employment and social situations where the disclosure of an individual’s ASD diagnosis may impact others’ perceptions of them. While the present findings suggest that revealing a diagnosis of ASD could be beneficial, existing literature suggests autistic individuals are fearful of doing this. However, the present findings indicate that autistic individuals who do not reveal their disorder may be perceived more negatively, while an ASD label motivates compassion, understanding and mitigates responsibility. These findings have significant implications for disclosure and should be an encouragement to the ASD community.

Link to full article:

www.researchgate.net/.../

Professor Penny Cooper @ProfPennyC tweeted:

"Autism and jurors and the ‘profound’ effect of letting them know...Here’s an important new study by Maras et al (2018) Mock Juror Perceptions of Credibility and Culpability in an Autistic Defendant @KatieMaras1"

Conclusion:

The present study aimed to examine whether disclosure of a defendant’s ASD impacted mock-juror judgements of credibility and culpability. Findings suggest that the information provided to jurors about an autistic defendant can have a profound
effect on their judgements of his likeability, honesty, blameworthiness, guilt and sentencing. With the provision of an ASD diagnosis label and further information, the defendant’s ASD was predominantly seen as the uncontrollable cause of his behaviour, compounded by the situation he was in. This has important implications not only for the courts, but also for other areas such as employment and social situations where the disclosure of an individual’s ASD diagnosis may impact others’ perceptions of them. While the present findings suggest that revealing a diagnosis of ASD could be beneficial, existing literature suggests autistic individuals are fearful of doing this. However, the present findings indicate that autistic individuals who do not reveal their disorder may be perceived more negatively, while an ASD label motivates compassion, understanding and mitigates responsibility. These findings have significant implications for disclosure and should be an encouragement to the ASD community.

Link to full article:

www.researchgate.net/.../