Professor Meredith Rossner
Areas of expertise
- Criminology 1602
- Courts And Sentencing 160203
- Criminological Theories 160204
- Law And Society 180119
- Legal Institutions (Incl. Courts And Justice Systems) 180120
- Sociological Methodology And Research Methods 160807
Research interests
- Restorative justice
- Emotions and criminal justice
- Online and virtual courts
- Lay participation in justice
- Juries and jury deliberation
- Courts and tribunals
- Architecture, technology, and justice
- Sociology of punishment
Biography
Meredith Rossner is Deputy Director, Research School of Social Sciences and Professor of Criminology at the Centre for Social Research & Methods at the ANU. Her research focuses on emotions, rituals, the built environment, and technology in justice practices. Past and current projects include investigations into the emotional dynamics of restorative justice, therapeutic courts, the role of courtroom design on access to justice, and the use of video technology in courts. Meredith has published widely in the field of restorative justice, including Just Emotions: Rituals of Restorative Justice (OUP, 2013). She is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Restorative Justice, a member of the Canberra Restorative Community and the Oceania Network of Restorative Practice for Sexual Harm.
Researcher's projects
Current and past research projects examine the increasing use of video technology in courts. I was the independent evaluator for the UK Ministry of Justices pilot of online courts. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the video hearings pilot was a world-first attempt to have a hearing with no physical courtroom. I am also part of a project funded by the Canadian Social Sciences and Hummanities Research Council on the use of automation and other technologies in the justice sytem. Previously, I have conducted research funded by the Australian Research Council on courtroom architecture, technology, and access to justice and on interpreters in court.
I also have an active program of research on restorarive justice and other justice innovations. My research has been funded by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice, the ACT Justice and Community Saftey Directorate, and the Australian Institute of Criminology. I have advised the UK and the NSW government on best practice in restorative justice, and am part of a community of pratice and research on restorative justice in response to sexual harm.
My book, Just Emotions: Rituals of Restorative Justice (OUP, 2013), is available through Oxford Scholarship Online, https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199655045.001.0001/acprof-9780199655045
I am a part of the Court of the Future Network, an international collaboration of academics, architects, technology experts, judges, and court administrators who research developments in court design, technology, security, and well-being.
Partial list of publications at https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?hl=en&user=9GNkh84AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate
Current student projects
Reynol Cheng (panel) 'Restorative justice and youth justice in Taiwan.'
Bethany Muir (panel) 'Virtual Courts and Backgrounds: How Background Cues Shape Impressions and Decisions.'
Theodora Putri (panel) 'How do judges and the institutional design of the Indonesian court system respond to women in criminal justice proceedings.'
Hannah Roberston (chair) 'Risk and violence is technology-facilitated dating'
Past student projects
John Taggart (panel) 'Examining the role of the intermediary in the criminal justice system' (LSE)
Publications
- Mulcahy, L, Rossner, M & Tsalapatanis, A 2021, 'It's about time: investigating the temporal in socio-legal studies through unstructured interviews', Journal of Law and Society, vol. 48, no. S1, pp. 104-117.
- Rossner, M & Tait, D 2021, 'Presence and participation in a virtual court', Criminology and Criminal Justice, vol. Online, pp. 1-23.
- Rossner, M 2021, 'Remote rituals in virtual courts', Journal of Law and Society, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 334-361.
- Rossner, M & Forsyth, M 2021, 'Is now the time for restorative justice for survivors of sexual assault?', The International Journal of Restorative Justice, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 365-373.
- Marder, I & Rossner, M 2021, 'Restorative justice during and after COVID-19', The International Journal of Restorative Justice, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 305-314.
- Rossner, M, Tait, D & McCurdy, M 2021, 'Justice reimagined: challenges and opportunities with implementing virtual courts', Current Issues in Criminal Justice, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 94-110.
- Rossner, M & McCurdy, M 2020, Video Hearings Process Evaluation Final Report..
- Rossner, M & Tait, D 2020, Courts are moving to video during coronavirus, but research shows it’s hard to get a fair trial remotely. The Conversation
- Rossner, M 2020, There are steps we can take to preserve trial by jury. The Canberra Times
- Mulcahy, L, Rossner, M & Rowden, E 2020, 'What if the dock was abolished in criminal courts? A pamphlet for the Howard League for Penal Reform'.
- Rossner, M 2020, 'Professional Emotions In Court: A Sociological Perspective (Book Review)', Journal of Law and Society, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 187-191.
- Rossner, M 2019, 'Restorative Justice, Anger, and the Transformative Energy of Forgiveness', The International Journal of Restorative Justice, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 368-388.
- Karstedt, S & Rossner, M 2019, 'Understanding emotions in restorative justice: transcending myths and skepticism', The International Journal of Restorative Justice, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 363-367.
- Rossner, M 2020, 'Book Review: Pervasive Punishment: Making Sense of Mass Supervision by Fergus McNeill', Punishment and Society, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 251-254.
- Rossner, M 2019, 'Storytelling Rituals in Jury Deliberations', Onati Socio-Legal Series, vol. Online.
- Rossner, M & McCurdy, M 2018, Video Hearings (Party-to-State): A Process Evaluation. London: Ministry of Justice.
- Rossner, M & Bruce, J 2018, 'Trajectories and typologies of pre-sentence restorative justice rituals', Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, vol. 51, no. 4, pp. 502-518.
- Rossner, M, Tait, D, McKimmie, B et al 2017, 'The Dock on Trial: Court Architecture and the Presumption of Innocence', Journal of Law and Society, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 317-344.
- Rossner, M 2017, 'Restorative Justice in the Twenty First Century: Making Emotions Mainstream', in Alison Liebling, Shadd Maruna & Lesley McAra (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Criminology (6th edn), Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 967-989.
- Battye, G & Rossner, M 2017, 'How Juries Talked About Visual Evidence', in David Tait & Jane Goodman-Delahunty (ed.), Juries, Science and Popular Culture in the Age of Terror: The Case of the Sydney Bomber, Palgrave Macmillan, London, United Kingdom, pp. 193-215.
- Tait, D & Rossner, M 2017, 'Making Sense of the Evidence: Jury Deliberation and Common Sense', in David Tait & Jane Goodman-Delahunty (ed.), Juries, Science and Popular Culture in the Age of Terror: The Case of the Sydney Bomber, Palgrave Macmillan, London, United Kingdom, pp. 249-271.
- Rossner, M & Bruce, J 2016, 'Community Participation in Restorative Justice: Rituals, Reintegration, and Quasi-Professionalization', Victims and Offenders, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 107-125.
- Rossner, M 2016, 'Does The Placement Of The Accused At Court Undermine The Right To A Fair Trial?'.
- Rossner, M 2016, 'Does the placement of the accused at court undermine the presumption of innocence?'.
- Tait, D & Rossner, M 2016, 'Tablets in the Jury Room: Enhancing Performance while Undermining Fairness?', in K Benyekhlef, J Bailey, J Burkell & F G?linas (ed.), eAccess to Justice, University of Ottawa Press, Ottawa, Canada, pp. 241-251.
- McDonald, L, Tait, D, Gelb, K et al 2015, 'Digital Evidence in the Jury Room: The Impact of Mobile Technology on the Jury', Current Issues in Criminal Justice, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 179-194.
- Sherman, L, Strang, H, Barnes, G et al. 2015, 'Twelve experiments in restorative justice: the Jerry Lee program of randomized trials of restorative justice conferences', Journal of Experimental Criminology, vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 501-540.
- Rossner, M, Tait, D & Goodman-Delahunty, J 2014, 'Students vs. Jurors: Responding to Enhanced Video Technology', Laws, vol. 3, pp. 618-636.
- Rossner, M 2013, Just Emotions: Rituals of Restorative Justice, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- Rossner, M, Bruce, J & Meher, M 2013, The Process and Dynamics of Restorative Justice: Research on Forum Sentencing.
- Rossner, M 2013, People who serve on juries are more likely to involve themselves in democracy
- Rossner, M 2011, 'Emotions and Interaction Ritual: A Micro-Analysis of Restorative Justice', The British Journal of Criminology, vol. 51, pp. 95-119.
- Rossner, M 2011, 'Reintegrative Ritual: Restorative Justice and Micro-Sociology', in Susanne Karstedt, Ian Loader & Heather Strang (ed.), Emotions, Crime, and Justice, Hart Publishing, Oxford, United Kingdom, pp. 169-191.
- Rossner, M & Tait, D 2011, 'Contested Emotions: Adversarial Rituals in Non-adversarial Justice Procedures', Monash University Law Review, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 241-258.
- Goodman-Delahunty, J, Rossner, M & Tait, D 2010, 'Simulation and dissimulation in jury research: Credibility in a live mock trial', in Lorana Bartels and Kelly Richards (ed.), Qualitative Criminology: Stories from the Field, Hawkins Press (an impress of Federation Press), Sydney Australia, pp. 34-44.
- Rossner, M 2008, 'Healing Victims and Offenders and Reducing Crime: A Critical Assessment of Restorative Justice Practice and Theory', Sociology Compass, vol. 2, no. 6, pp. 1734-1749.
Projects and Grants
Grants information is drawn from ARIES. To add or update Projects or Grants information please contact your College Research Office.
- Ngurrambai Bail Support Program Evaluation: Work Order 4 (Secondary Investigator)
- Drug and Alcohol Court Evaluation Framework (Primary Investigator)
