“We are not robots, but we are expected to be unfeeling’: The contribution of emotion to judicial decision-making in the criminal courts”

Richardson, Joan Patricia (2025) “We are not robots, but we are expected to be unfeeling’: The contribution of emotion to judicial decision-making in the criminal courts”. Doctoral thesis (PhD), Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

This thesis critically investigates the assumption that emotions are immaterial to effective judicial decision-making. Focusing on the role of emotions in the working lives of judges to include magistrates, a dramaturgical framework is adopted as a means of evaluating the role of emotions both ‘backstage’ and ‘frontstage’. Utilising observations of over one thousand criminal cases, across eighty-five judges and magistrates, as well as informal interviews with ten judicial participants and an in-depth analysis of judicial quotes in the media, the research demonstrates that emotions have multiple functions within judicial decision-making. These range from the practical - just getting the job done, to the more strategic - as tools of evaluation and by way of justification for decisions made. A case is made for arguing that emotions also operate as tools for the maintenance of judicial power and control, and that this is sustained through retributive rather than compassionate strategies and polices. Within this mix, emotions perform a protective role, ultimately for the security and stability of the justice system. The thesis concludes by arguing that emotions can only be better utilised in courtrooms through the efforts of judges as agents of change: thereby necessitating an acknowledgment on their part as to the role emotions may play in progressing the law. While seeking to make a contribution to theoretical understandings of the role of emotions in the courtroom, the thesis concludes by making recommendations as to how emotions can be better managed within judicial settings in the future.