Five experiments tested the idea that instructing a witness to close their eyes during retrieval might increase retrieval success. In Experiment 1 participants watched a video, before a cued-recall test for which they were either instructed to close their eyes, or received no-instructions. Eye-closure led to an increase in correct cued-recall, with no increase in incorrect responses. Experiments 2-5 sought to test the generality of this effect over variations in study material (video or live interaction), test format (cued- or free-recall) and information modality (visual or auditory details recalled). Overall, eye-closure increased recall of both visual detail and auditory details, with no accompanying increase in recall of false details. Collectively, these data convincingly demonstrate the benefits of eye-closure as an aid to retrieval, and offer insight into why hypnosis, which usually involves eye-closure, may facilitate eyewitness recall.

Changes in prosecutorial strategies vis-a-vis domestic violence introduced new models of investigation that privilege images of victims. Drawing on case law, we argue these visual artefacts of victims’ injuries as well as their videotaped sworn statements describing their assaults constitute what Haggerty and Ericson call a ‘data double’, a virtual doppleganger who is meant to stand, often antagonistically in the stead of the flesh and blood victim. We further suggest, following theorizing on the emotional impact of images, that these pictures and videos, presented in court, have an emotional stickiness that differently affects both judges and juries as compared to the testimony of the flesh and blood victim. Thinking through temporality and notions of femininity we conclude that the truth effect of these images is that the victim’s data double becomes more human than human, forcing us to rethink the relationships between victims, images, and the machinations of justice.

No abstract

This article offers an alternative to the traditional, technocentric and control oriented focus of surveillance studies. Drawing on field work in drug treatment courts (DTCs), I theorize the notion of 'therapeutic surveillance' as a seemingly benevolent form of monitoring which also troubles the 'care/control' dichotomy familiar to surveillance studies and social theory more generally. I look specifically at the roles of judges, treatment workers and DTC participants in constituting a surveillant assemblage which relies on personal relationships, intimate knowledge and pastoral care. I suggest that surveillance studies can move beyond the panopticon by recognizing the varied ways in which surveillance takes place. These strategies can include benevolent acts and intentions alongside (and sometimes coterminous with) coercive manoeuvres.