Reports on the psychological trauma experienced by many jurors. How
jurors at murder trials are faced with grisly exhibits and tormenting
testimony meant to make them experience a crime as the victim did; How
they are often sequestered from the emotional support they need from
family and friends; Debriefing process created by Karil Klingbeil, M.S.W.
to ease jurors back to everyday life.
By
PT Staff, published on March 01, 1995
Jury Duty
If you think being a victim of violent crime is traumatic, try
being a juror--it's the next best thing to being there.
As America becomes more violent, jury duty is turning into a civic
nightmare. Jurors are increasingly barraged with grisly exhibits,
lawyerly acrimony, and tormenting testimony meant to make them experience
a crime as the victim did. Worse, they may be sequestered from what they
need most--the emotional support of family and friends.
Jurors find themselves struggling with head- and stomach- aches,
sleeplessness, nightmares, or just plain emotional overload, according to
Karil Klingbeil, M.S.W., of the University of Washington. She has created
a debriefing process to ease jurors back to everyday life.
"Increasingly we ask jurors to see things they haven't had to in
the past: videos showing the aftermath of a crime scene or the crime
itself," she says.
Exhibit A is the gruesome trial of Gerald and Julie Sousa, accused
of scalding their baby to death. Seattle jurors were asked to touch the
baby's clothing and hear testimony on how the baby's skin came off in the
father's hands.
Klingbeil finds that the best time for debriefing is about three
days after the trial and it lasts two hours. Led by two social workers,
jurors discuss emotions that were aroused and events that triggered them
to give jurors credence to their feelings and a sense of closure. They
also brainstorm about coping skills.
Though modeled after methods used for natural disaster victims, the
jury debriefing process faces a bigger challenge, as people recover more
quickly from random earthly disaster than from purposeful human
evil.
It all gives new meaning to trial by jury.
PHOTO: Testimony presented at trials like that of Jeffrey Dahmer
can traumatize jurors.
Tags:
acrimony,
coping skills,
credence,
crime scene,
disaster victims,
emotion,
emotional overload,
emotional support,
everyday life,
human evil,
juror,
jurors,
jury,
jury duty,
klingbeil,
psychosomatic,
social workers,
sousa,
trauma,
trial by jury
