ORAL COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION: SOME CONSIDERATIONS OF THE TRAIT-LIKE AND SITUATIONAL CONDITIONS ON JURY VENIRES AND DELIBERATING TRIAL JURIES (SPEECH DYSFUNCTION, ARIZONA).

Abstract

This dissertation measures the levels of trait-like and situational oral communication apprehension in jury bodies and provides some interpretation of these measurements on these bodies. By extending research on oral communication apprehension to juries, a clearer understanding of the impact of this phenomenon on specialized small groups is possible. Juries constitute a specialized small group because of the manner by which jurors are selected, the rules applying to their discussion of trial matters, their isolation from external influences during a trial, and their objective to determine a trial verdict for which they have personal impunity. Results of this study were obtained from analysis of data acquired from actual venire members and jurors in the Pima County Superior Court in Tucson, Arizona. The study uses a data collection instrument that is a modification of the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension-24 combined with the Situational Communication Apprehension Measure. This research determined that the overall trait-like oral communication apprehension level of venire members is below that normally found in other groups, whereas, the situational apprehension level of jurors is generally above that level found in nonjury small groups. This situational apprehension level varies considerably depending on the ethnicity of the individual venire member or jurors and the nature of the trial on which the juror is impaneled. The study further determined that certain factors normally associated with leadership role fulfillment appear to be altered inside the jury deliberation room. Jury service appears to serve as a motivational drive that lowers the fears and anxieties that high communication apprehensives associate with interactive speaking in small groups.