Why have courts decided that each juror must undergo post trial juror counselling. It is because studies have found that 70 percent of jurors suffer if not extreme stress then certainly some stress. Usually it may just be low level stress as the juror duties disrupt their daily routine and their work and hoe life may suffer. When their jury duties end so may this stress. But it is not always so. Stress may vary according to the type of trial that they may be witnessing. Some murder trials or extreme forms of crime may put a lot of undue stress on the jurors. Some trials that can trigger extreme stress among jurors may include homicides, rapes or sexual assaults or crimes against small children. At times it may be cases that create great sensation and media coverage where the media itself can put the juror through extreme form of stress. Other times the juror may be traumatized by evidence that may have photos of crime scenes, autopsy or blood. Detailed Graphic descriptions of murders, Killings, shootings, forensic evidence or witnessing emotional scenes of the victim’s family members can also be very stressful for some jurors. Unfortunately at times this stress can last for a long time; even weeks and months may go by before the juror can get back to his normal life. Studies exploring how moods and emotions can influence the jurors have also found that witness testimonies can actually change a juror’s perception where he is unable to think for himself. Their emotions may be continuously be manipulated with the testimonies and they may not be aware of what is happening. That is why post trial juror counselling May help them to understand what is happening to them and emotionally so that may be able to separate it from their daily lives. Sometimes a juror or his or her family may not be able to comprehend why a juror is sad or has started distancing himself or find him changing in imperceptible ways. Post trial juror counselling helps not only the juror but also his friend and family understand the effects of stress that a juror may undergo because of having served on the jury and having been forced to witness unnatural scenes.
Having to hear witnesses and their versions of what actually took place, things which a juror may feel are lies or manipulations may also lead to anger without the juror even being aware where the anger is coming from. Post trial juror counselling helps to put all this and more into perspective.
Post trial juror counselling is also needed when after completion if juror duty, many a times jurors come across situations when they might have to reveal what happened in the jury room, a most sacred place for jurors where everything witness, heard or discussed is to be kept absolute private. But at times a juror may find that he or she has spoken and broken that code of ethics which was required of him, and this itself may lead to feelings of guilt and as a result to great stress.
