Judicial Recognition of PTSD in Crime Victims: A Review of How Much Credence Australian Courts Give to Crime-Induced PTSD
(2016) 24 Journal of Law and Medicine 478
13 Pages Posted: 11 Jan 2017
Date Written: 2016
Abstract
The criminal justice system often finds itself concerned with what was happening inside someone's mind - what they were thinking, what they were feeling, what they intended. That investigation into people's minds, however, seems disproportionately more concerned with what is happening in defendants' minds (their credibility, culpability and dangerousness) than it is with victims' minds (the harm done). This is concerning given that one in five victims of violent crime and one in two victims of rape suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This research reviews 139 reported criminal law judgments around Australia that mentioned PTSD in the 12-month period between 1 November 2014 and 31 October 2015. Of those 139 cases, it was in only 28 cases that a court's mention of PTSD had to do with whether the victim had PTSD; and of these, it was in only 11 that the victim's potential diagnosis of PTSD was somewhat or very relevant to the court's reasoning. This article suggests that victim PTSD should take a more prominent role in decision-making in the criminal justice system.
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