Guest post: 'Your Grandmother's Middle Name was Rose'

CSEL friend and colleague Jennifer Verson of Migrant Artists Mutual Aid writes below on the impact attending a CSEL session on psychology and memory had on her work as an artist...

Digested: The importance of looking credible: the impact of the behavioural sequelae of post-traumatic stress disorder on the credibility of asylum seekers

Behaviours such as averting one’s gaze, fidgeting, and hesitant speech are commonly interpreted as signs of dishonesty, yet they are also symptoms of PTSD. What, if any, are the effects of this overlap on credibility assessment in the asylum process?

Associate Researchers Hannah Rogers and Simone Fox, and CSEL Director Jane Herlihy have recently published a new study in Psychology, Crime and Law, investigating whether observable symptoms of PTSD can be confused with perceived cues to deception, and how such confusion, where it arises, affects the assessment of an individual’s credibility in the context of a mock asylum interview. You can read through our digest below. If you would like more detail or to cite the paper in the future, click here to access the full paper (£), or here for a pre-print copy. (Image credit: Tori Rector)