Emotive Justice

Preface / Acknowledgments IX
About the author XI
List of Publications XII
Samenvatting XV

1. Introduction 1
Aim: explore victim-oriented reactions by legal professionals 5
Aim: focus on emotional victims of crime 7
Aim: improve the measurement of strategies 8
Central research question and hypothesis 8
Research design and overview 9

PART I Theoretical framework 11
2. Belief in a just world: the state of the art 13
2.1 A framework of victim-oriented BJW strategies 15
2.2 The relative use of positive and negative strategies 18
2.3 Conceptualization of (in)justice 21
2.4 Conclusion 26
3. The emotional victim 29
3.1 The conventional BJW vignette 29
3.2 Advantages of the emotional victim vignette 31
3.3 Emotions influencing positive and negative strategies 35
3.4 Observers’ expectations about victims’ emotions 39
3.5 Conclusion 40

4. The emotional victim in the criminal justice context 43
4.1 Professional reactions towards victims 44
4.2 Re-emotionalization of law 46
4.3 The impact of emotions 49
4.4 Victim participation and the emotionality argument 54
4.5 Managing emotions related to victims’ narratives 57
4.6 Conclusion 60

5. Improving the measurement of strategies 63
5.1 Vignette technique 64
5.2 Improving questionnaires 66
5.3 Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations 73
5.4 Conclusion 76

PART II Laypersons’ encounters with emotional victims of crime 77
6. Laypersons’ ratings of emotional victims of crime 79
6.1 Study 1: Anger and sadness versus non-emotional suffering 80
6.2 Study 2: Anger versus non-emotional suffering in a VIS 89
6.3 Study 3: Anger and sadness, a matter of expectations 93
6.4 General discussion 105

7. Laypersons’ articulated thoughts about emotional victims of crime 109
7.1 Method 110
7.2 Results and discussion 119
7.3 Conclusion 131

PART III Professionals’ encounters with emotional victims of crime 133
8. Judges’ articulated thoughts about emotional victims of crime 135
8.1 Method 137
8.2 Results and discussion 139
8.3 Conclusion 155

9. Prosecutors’ articulated thoughts about emotional victims of crime 157
9.1 Method 158
9.2 Results and discussion 160
9.3 Conclusion 171

PART IV General discussion 173
10. General discussion 175
10.1 General discussion of the main findings 176
10.2 Limitations 180
10.3 Implications 182
Summary 187
References 191

APPENDICES 215
A – Vignette and manipulations study 6.1 and 6.2 217
B – Vignette and manipulations study 6.3 220
C – Dutch version of the Global Belief in a Just World scale 221
D – Dutch version of the short Justice Sensitivity scale 222
E – ATSS vignettes 223
F – Overview of participants and conditions 235
G – Original phrases from transcripts in Dutch 238