Descrizione del progetto
Definire le variabili dipendenti dalla cultura nella memoria dei testimoni oculari
Vivere in una società globalizzata implica che i testimoni oculari di crimini gravi forniscano regolarmente la loro testimonianza in contesti interculturali. Cosa accade quando gli investigatori della polizia interrogano testimoni oculari appartenenti a un contesto culturale differente? In che modo i vari gruppi culturali codificano, memorizzano e recuperano i ricordi e come vengono valutati i resoconti nei contesti di immigrazione? E che dire della frequenza, della natura e delle conseguenze giuridiche di variabili dipendenti dalla cultura nei casi penali internazionali? Il progetto WEIRD WITNESSES, finanziato dall’UE, intende rispondere a questi interrogativi, per sviluppare una teoria culturalmente modulata della memoria dei testimoni oculari, oltre a progettare e testare linee guida empiriche per gli interrogatori. Il progetto, per raggiungere questi obiettivi, si propone di integrare l’analisi di video, documenti e dati sperimentali.
Obiettivo
Our increasingly international society demands that eyewitnesses of serious crimes regularly provide testimony in cross-cultural settings, such as international criminal tribunals. This poses significant challenges for investigators and legal decision-makers. Errors in fact-finding may result in wrongful convictions and unjust acquittals. Yet, eyewitness memory research has predominantly focused on Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) witnesses.
The project addresses two key objectives: (1) develop culturally modulated theory of eyewitness memory and (2) design and test evidence-based interview guidelines.
In Subproject 1, I will examine what happens when police investigators interview eyewitnesses from a different cultural background. It will involve the systematic coding of culture-dependent variables in video-recorded police interviews with witnesses of serious crimes in South Africa, a society with many different subcultures.
In Subproject 2, I will analyse the frequency, nature and legal consequences of culture-dependent variables in international criminal cases. It will involve an empirical document analysis of eyewitness evidence provided at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and interviews with international legal scholars and practitioners.
In Subproject 3, I will assess how different cultural groups encode, store and retrieve memories, and how memory reports are evaluated in immigration contexts. It will involve a series of experiments in which the objective and perceived characteristics of statements provided by asylum seekers originating from Sub-Saharan Africa are compared to a matched Western control group.
The project integrates analyses of video, document and experimental data to provide insight into culture-dependent variables in eyewitness memory. The new theory will enable researchers and practitioners to steer away from the present WEIRD bias in legal psychology.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-STG - Starting GrantIstituzione ospitante
1081 HV Amsterdam
Paesi Bassi