A criminological perspective on Emotions in the Judiciary : victim advocacy

Criminal justice is an emotion place where victim advocates use emotional persuasion and emotion words in their argument. The study examines how victim advocates use emotion to persuade the jury in domestic violence cases. As on the theatre stage, a criminal domestic violence case is a space for many kinds of drama, human conflicts with strong emotions. We try to understand the rhetorical strategies that can strengthen or weaken an argument in criminal proceedings. More specifically, the study discusses how sadness, fear, hate, pity, anger and shame affect and influence the judge’s decision-making.