Vasey J2
1Queensland Human Rights Commission, 2Queensland University of Technology
Biography:
Jane is an experienced lawyer specialising in inquiries and litigation involving people who have experienced trauma and discrimination. She has held senior roles at the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Jane works within an interdisciplinary context at the intersection of law and psychology. This thesis was recently submitted for her Honors in Psychology, and draws on her evolving understanding of how and why these two disciplines must learn from one another to offer improved responses increasingly demanded by complex social problems.
The nature and impact of institutional child sexual abuse is now well documented. Research has consistently identified a significant link between child sexual abuse and adverse impacts across all life stages. More recently, the salutogenic paradigm has supported identification of factors influential in recovery and healing. Despite these advancements, survivors continue to report negative experiences when engaging with the criminal justice system. Recent legal and social reforms, including those recommended by the landmark Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, have gone some way to improving justice system responses. However, limited research has considered how the legal system can help or hinder a person’s journey to recovery. This thesis examined the experiences of 41 survivors of institutional child sexual abuse who gave evidence to the Royal Commission and also as the complainant in a criminal prosecution. A thematic analysis of 820 pages of transcript was conducted. Three superordinate themes and 15 constituent themes were extracted. Consistent with previous research, involvement with the criminal justice system was predominantly associated with negative experiences. The unique discovery of this research was the critical importance of allowing survivors a voice in the process. Overall, findings revealed that a survivor’s sense of justice was closely linked to whether their voice was facilitated or denied, and this defined whether they endorsed factors associated with healing. Findings are interpreted in the context of procedural justice theory and the salutogenic concept of sense of coherence. Based on these findings, recommendations to inform policy and practice are identified. They focus on re-orientating professionals in the system toward factors associated with healing and advancing transdisciplinary research.