I wonder how may of you have ever been called up for jury duty? Personally even before i worked in the "system" i had never been called upon. I have friends and family been called upon multiple times, few of these actually resulted in actually serving on a matter.
I have just recieved the latest study completed by some peers on the main issues/causes of stress amongst jurors, including the prevelence AND if particular conditions of jury duty place jurors under special risk of stress and contribute to the need for debriefing?

To me, the actual findings are no real surprise apart from perhaps that only 10% had felt unsafe, i would have expected that number to be higher. Perhaps i think this because my clients feel very vulnerable going through the system.

Some of the issues identified by the jurors......15% felt frustrated by the legal system
9% upset by jury room dynamics..............9% upset at verdict and the impact..............38% felt good about the overall experience........49% were satisfied they had played their part.

Other issues that troubled the juries............bullying juror........uninterested juror......poor english.......lack of life experience in young jurors and understanding the legal definitions.

Personal issues of concern for jurors........lack of control ........facts of the case disturbing and reluctance to return a verdict that involves a custodial sentence.

While jurors reactions are dependant on a number of variables, including pre existing conditions, recent studies on jurors reactions indicate that the stress jurors experience may be significant and has been compared to that of post truamatic stress disorder. In fact 4 of the jurors questioned met the criteria for DSM-III revised criteria for PTSD.

So, now that we know all this information, a call for jury counselling for up to 12 months after the trial is now being called for. America has a "crisis debriefing" system already in place. Theraputic jurisprudence is a must in Australia.