Although some may try to avoid jury duty, it\u2019s still regarded as a valuable contribution to society.<\/p>\n
Despite the number of people who strive to wriggle out of that obligation, there\u2019s a group of citizens that, in about three-quarters of Canadian jurisdictions, can be exempt from jury duty without much effort.<\/p>\n
They only need to be 65 years of age or over.<\/p>\n
At first glance, it seems to be a reasonable measure to alleviate stress in an older person\u2019s life. But for Brock University Psychology PhD student Alison O\u2019Connor, such a law is a potential red flag for a larger problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven that we have negative aging attitudes embedded within our society already,\u201d says O\u2019Connor, \u201cis this law just perpetuating these stereotypes and making older adults feel like they aren\u2019t able to contribute to the jury?\u201d<\/p>\n
She notes that there has been no research on how people perceive this law and that \u201cthere is no justification provided for why older adults can opt out, and there\u2019s no reason to explain why some areas uphold this law and others do not.\u201d<\/p>\n
To address these and other questions, the O\u2019Connor and her supervisor, Associate Professor of Psychology Angela Evans, set out to explore perceptions of older adults\u2019 involvement in jury duty and how this may be shaped by the opt-out law.<\/p>\n
The researchers constructed a questionnaire for younger and older adult participants to assess their willingness and capability to serve on jury duty, their perceptions of older adults\u2019 capability to serve, and what participants thought of the so-called \u2018opt-out\u2019 law.<\/p>\n
Prior to completing the questionnaire, the researchers informed half of the older adult group about the law. The other half of older adults were not told about the law until the end of the questionnaire.<\/p>\n