The perception of elder sexual abuse in the courtroom.

This study explored mock juror perceptions of elder sexual mistreatment (ESM). In Experiment 1, 118 participants read a fictional criminal trial summary of an ESM case in which a 76-year-old woman was allegedly abused by either her son or a neighbor. In Experiment 2 (n = 360), the ESM occurred in either a nursing home or the elder's home and the alleged perpetrator was either her son or a nursing home worker. Conviction rates were relatively low in both experiments (25% and 33%, respectively). Women were more pro-prosecution than men in case judgments. Overall, the study provides evidence that mock jurors may question the credibility of elders in ESM cases.

The impact of juror characteristics and victim health status on the perception of elder physical abuse.

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.

The effect of gender in the perception of elder physical abuse in court.

Two experiments investigated mock jurors' perceptions of elder abuse (EA) in a physical assault case. In Experiment 1, participants read a fictional criminal trial summary of a physical assault case in which the alleged victim was 66, 76, or 86 years old. In Experiment 2, the age of the alleged victim was 76 years old, but the gender of the alleged victim and the gender of the defendant were crossed. The results of the experiments showed that women believed the alleged victim more and rendered a guilty verdict more often than men. Overall, the alleged victim was believed more than the defendant regardless of the age of the alleged victim, and most verdicts were guilty. These results are discussed in terms of the factors that affect perceptions of alleged victims of EA in court.