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Juror Characteristics and Decision Making in a Developed Coercive Control Case
Kacey May Barnett1, Russell Woodfield1, Rachel A Conlon1
1School of Psychology, Leeds Trinity University, Leeds LS18 5HD, UK.
Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
|June 26, 2025
Summary
Juror attitudes towards coercive control, not psychopathic traits, significantly predicted Not Guilty verdicts. Understanding these attitudes is crucial for fairer trials and improved criminal justice responses to coercive control.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Criminology
- Law
Background:
- Coercive control is a pattern of behavior that can be difficult for legal systems to identify and prosecute.
- Juror decision-making in coercive control trials may be influenced by personal characteristics and attitudes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how juror age, attitudes towards coercive control, and psychopathic personality traits (PPT) influence verdicts in coercive control trials.
- To identify significant predictors of Guilty or Not Guilty verdicts in mock coercive control trials.
Main Methods:
- 135 participants completed an online survey with a mock coercive control trial scenario.
- Questionnaires included the Modern Adolescent Dating Violence Attitudes (MADVA (CC)) Scale, Psychopathic Personality Traits Scale-Revised (PPTS-R), and Juror Decision Scale (JDS).
- Binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine predictors of verdicts.
Main Results:
- Significant positive correlations were found between coercive control attitudes (MADVA (CC)) and psychopathic traits (PPTS-R).
- Higher MADVA (CC) scores were the sole significant predictor of Not Guilty verdicts.
- Jurors returning Not Guilty verdicts showed more accepting attitudes towards controlling behaviors, higher defendant believability ratings, and less decision confidence.
Conclusions:
- Juror attitudes towards coercive control are significant factors in verdict decisions, potentially more so than psychopathic traits.
- Improved identification of coercive control tactics and enhanced training for criminal justice professionals are recommended.
- Further research is needed on the development of accepting attitudes towards coercive control and on educating the public to ensure fairer trials.
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