Students get to witness jury decision making in mock trial event

Post-Graduate Psychology students have had the unique opportunity to see how a jury deliberates a court case outcome in a mock event hosted on campus.

Conviction or Acquittal: The Science of Jury Decision Making, a Glasgow Science Festival event, was hosted on campus on Monday 9 June. The sell-out event invited members of the public to watch a mock court trial and act as jurors, deciding whether to convict or acquit the person accused.

Event attendees also had the opportunity to hear from a panel of Law experts to help discuss the trial and share their thoughts on the challenges of court trials.

Attending to gain insight into jury decisions were MSc Forensic Psychology students Lucy Hoffman, Katy Rymill, Caitlin Anderson and Counselling Psychology doctoral student Tom Sadler.

In this event, students had the unique chance to see the dynamics and behaviours of jury members as they make their decisions; something that would not be otherwise possible in a real court setting.

“In general, I think this is a really interesting thing to see. With it being a mock jury, it was actually really interesting for me to see it take place, not even necessarily being a part of it.” Explained MSc Forensic Psychology student Lucy Hoffman.

“It really gave us that outside perspective since we got the chance to listen to how people engaged with each other; hearing their different opinions and how people arrive at their decisions.”

For many of the students in attendance, the event was a great way to learn about a different element of their course. MSc Forensic Psychology student Katy Rymill said: “The Forensic Psychology course is actually a lot more linked to law than you would think.

We have taken a law module already, but experiences like this are really helpful as it’s a different way of learning for us. Law can be quite a complex topic to get your head around but it was great to hear from the panel members about new Bills that are being introduced.”

For students like Caitlin, the event was especially relevant to their own research.

“For me, it sounded like  a great opportunity to be there and present in the moment. In my own research, I’m looking at how different demographics can influence jury decision making so it was really interesting to be there and view that in person.” Explained MSc Forensic Psychology student Caitlin Anderson.

She added: “In a normal situation, we wouldn’t get access to a jury or get to hear how they come to deciding a verdict so this is the only way we can gather realistic research. “

Counselling Psychology doctoral student Tom Sadler, who previously worked as a court clerk, found the mock jury event to be very insightful in relation to witnessing how the groups navigated their decision making.

“For me, I was quite curious to learn how members of the public would react in a jury setting. My background involves working in courts so it was interesting to hear how jury members discuss the case.” Tom explained.

“As a Counselling Psychology doctoral student, it was interesting for me to see the different dynamics of each group; how everyone speaks to each other and forms their own stories.

I also enjoyed getting to see the public engage with law experts on the panel. Again, there isn’t usually a lot of crossover between jurors and experts within the law field so I’m sure it was beneficial for them as well.”

By Rachael McAlonan

Got a SCEBE or GSBS story? Email me at Rachael.McAlonan@gcu.ac.uk or connect with me on social media here