Dataset Information

Institutional Violence Against Users of the Family Law Courts and the Legal Harassment Scale.

ABSTRACT: The term harassment is often used to refer two contexts, the workplace and school, but not the legal system itself. Long drawn-out litigation in the Family Law Courts often produces a surreptitious phenomenon of violence toward one of the litigating parties, who become victims of the legal system itself. The aim of this study was to determine whether legal harassment could be detected and measured in the Spanish Justice System using an innovative Legal Harassment Scale (LHS). This hypothesis was substantiated by the data obtained using a new 32-item psychometric instrument with a global index: the LHS, consisting of four factors: Direct Aggression, Procedural Harassment, Personal Contempt, and Manipulation of Reality. The estimated reliability and validity of the LHS was satisfactory, both in terms of the global score, and for each of the four factors distributed along the normal curve. The results of this study are discussed in terms of the limitations of the study and in relation to future lines of research aimed at ensuring that the legal system respects and safeguards the rights of the parties involved in litigation, and that no party falls victim to legal harassment.

SUBMITTER: Clemente M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6345693 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Institutional Violence Against Users of the Family Law Courts and the Legal Harassment Scale.

Clemente Miguel M Padilla-Racero Dolores D Espinosa Pablo P Reig-Botella Adela A Gandoy-Crego Manuel M

Frontiers in psychology 20190118

The term harassment is often used to refer two contexts, the workplace and school, but not the legal system itself. Long drawn-out litigation in the Family Law Courts often produces a surreptitious phenomenon of violence toward one of the litigating parties, who become victims of the legal system itself. The aim of this study was to determine whether legal harassment could be detected and measured in the Spanish Justice System using an innovative Legal Harassment Scale (LHS). This hypothesis was ...[more]

PMID: 30713512

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Project description:BackgroundGlobally, the most important human rights and public health issue that sex workers face is their experience of high levels of violence (Kinnell, 2006, Kinnell, 2008, Alexander, 1999). Deering's systematic review estimated levels of sexual violence in sex working populations as being between 14% and 54% (Deering et al, 2014).AimsThis international, robust mixed methods study will explore the frequency of sexual violence against sex workers, barriers in criminal justice and the legal consciousness of sex workers regarding their rights and consent. The hypothesis to be tested is that the safety of sex workers from sexual violence is mediated by the differing legal contexts of sex work environments. We will compare experiences across research sites in the context of legalisation (Nevada USA), client criminalisation (Northern Ireland), decriminalisation (New Zealand) and partial criminalisation (England, Scotland and Wales) [henceforth ESW].MethodsAn international survey (n = 1,000) will be translated into several languages, to disaggregate experiences by demographic categories (gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation) and sex work sector (including online, street-based and brothels). Interviews (n = 100) with sex workers, police, prosecutors and service providers will be thematically analysed to explore legal consciousness, why the patterns occur and contextualise the statistical findings. These data will be supplemented with comparative legislative, policy and case analysis. Research study data will be used to compare the social factors and legal norms shaping sex workers experiences of sexual violence, justice and support interventions. Recommendations for a 'best practice' review of legal improvements and support interventions will be produced following completion of the study. Given the sensitive nature of the research, robust ethical and data protection mechanisms are in place. The research has ethical approval from each research site, an Advisory Board and trained, paid peer researchers to assist with data gathering, analysis and dissemination. The study will report findings in 2023/2024.

Project description:Workplace sexual harassment is associated with negative psychological and physical outcomes. Recent research suggests that harmful institutional responses to reports of wrongdoing-called institutional betrayal-are associated with additional psychological and physical harm. It has been theorized that supportive responses and an institutional climate characterized by transparency and proactiveness-called institutional courage-may buffer against these negative effects. The current study examined the association of institutional betrayal and institutional courage with workplace outcomes and psychological and physical health among employees reporting exposure to workplace sexual harassment. Adults who were employed full-time for at least six months were recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk platform and completed an online survey (N = 805). Of the full sample, 317 participants reported experiences with workplace sexual harassment, and only this subset of participants were included in analyses. We used existing survey instruments and developed the Institutional Courage Questionnaire-Specific to assess individual experiences of institutional courage within the context of workplace sexual harassment. Of participants who experienced workplace sexual harassment, nearly 55% also experienced institutional betrayal, and 76% experienced institutional courage. Results of correlational analyses indicated that institutional betrayal was associated with decreased job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and increased somatic symptoms. Institutional courage was associated with the reverse. Furthermore, results of multiple regression analyses indicated that institutional courage appeared to attenuate negative outcomes. Overall, our results suggest that institutional courage is important in the context of workplace sexual harassment. These results are in line with previous research on institutional betrayal, may inform policies and procedures related to workplace sexual harassment, and provide a starting point for research on institutional courage.

Project description:BackgroundOver the past years medical centres specifically addressed in gender-based violence have developed protocols for the collections of evidence useful in the courtroom, including accurate documentation of physical and psychological states of the victim and collection of samples. Previous studies showed an association between documented physical trauma and conviction but unfortunately, few studies in the recent literature analysed the factors that influence the legal outcome and final judgement. The present study focused on the elements that appeared of significance in the legal outcome, including medico-legal evaluation, source of the crime report and circumstance of the assault.MethodsIt was conducted a retrospective analysis of all the judgments issued by the Public Prosecutor's Office at a Court of a Metropolitan Italian city regarding sexual and domestic violence, from January 1st 2011 to 31st December 31st 2015. Examination regarded the demographic information of the victim and of the defendant, information on the crime, the circumstances of the aggression and medical information retrieved. Sentences were subsequently divided into two categories based on the legal outcome (conviction vs acquittal) and the different characteristics of the two sub-populations were compared to verify if there were variables significantly associated to the judge's final judgment.ResultsOver the 5 years taken into consideration, there have been 1342 verdicts regarding crimes of sexual violence (374 cases) and regarding abuses against family members or cohabitants (875): other 93 cases regarded both sexual violence and abuse. 66.3% ended in conviction of the offender and 33.7% in acquittal of the accused. Cases of conviction were more frequent when they involved: use of a weapon by the assailant, as well as if the assailant had a criminal record and had a history of drug abuse or other addictions; duration of proceeding less 22 months and a civil party involved; presence of clinical documentation together with other deposition in addition to victim's deposition; also frequent episodes of violence and application of precautionary measures were associated to conviction.ConclusionsMany factors seem able to influence the judge's judgment, although clearly each case must be singularly evaluated. The mere presence of medical documentation, without the support of other sources of evidence, such as the victim's statement or further declarations, however, is almost always not definitive for the verdict. Despite so, in cases where there are multiple sources of evidence, clinical documentation can provide useful elements and can give clues on the consistency between the history told and injuries observed.

Dataset Information

Institutional Violence Against Users of the Family Law Courts and the Legal Harassment Scale.

Publications

Institutional Violence Against Users of the Family Law Courts and the Legal Harassment Scale.

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