Discursive Constructions of Consent in the Legal Process (Oxford Studies in Language and Law)

As a linguistically-grounded, critical examination of consent, this volume views consent not as an individual mental state or act but as a process that is interactionally-and discursively-situated. It highlights the ways in which legal consent is often fictional (at best) due to the impoverished view of meaning and the linguistic ideologies that typically inform interpretations and representations in the legal system. The authors are experts in linguistics and law, who use diverse theoretical and analytical approaches to examine the complex ways in which language is used to seek, negotiate, give, or withhold consent in a range of legal contexts. Authors draw on case studies, or larger research corpora or a wider sociolegal approach, in investigations of: police-citizen interactions in the street, police interviews with suspects, police call handlers, rape and abduction trials, interactions with lay litigants in a multilingual small claims court, a restorative justice sentencing scheme for young offenders, biomedical research, and legal disputes over contracts. Experts In Linguistics And Law Use Diverse Theoretical And Analytical Approaches To Demonstrate The Complex Ways In Which Language Is Used To Seek, Steer, Give, Or Withhold Consent In A Range Of Legal Contexts. The Book Illuminates Problematic Issues In Legal Practices And Procedures That May Otherwise Be Uncritically Accepted. Introduction : Linguistic And Discursive Dimensions Of Consent / Susan Ehrlich And Diana Eades -- Culture, Cursing, And Coercion : The Impact Of Police Officer Swearing On The Voluntariness Of Consent To Search In Police-citizen Interactions / Janet Ainsworth -- Post-penetration Rape : Coercion Or Freely-given Consent? / Susan Ehrlich -- Erasing Context In The Courtroom Construal Of Consent / Diana Eades -- Talking The Ethical Turn : Drawing On Tick-box Consent In Policing / Frances Rock -- Transparent And Opaque Consent In Contract Formation / Lawrence M. Solan -- The Empty Performative?: Informed Consent To Genetic Research / John Conley, R. Jean Cadigan And Arlene Davis -- Promoting Litigant Consent To Arbitration In Multilingual Small Claims Court / Philipp Sebastian Angermeyer -- Consent And Compliance In Youth Justice Conferences / Michele Zappavigna, Paul Dwyer And J.r. Martin -- Non-consent And Discursive Resistance : Radical Reformulation In A Post-sting Police Interview / Philip Gaines -- Totality Of Circumstances And Translating The Miranda Warnings / Susan Berk-seligson -- Negotiating The Right To Remain Silent In Inquisitorial Trials / Fleur Van Der Houwen And Guusje Jol -- No Comment Responses To Questions In Police Investigative Interviews / Elizabeth Stokoe, Derek Edwards And Helen Edwards. Edited By Susan Ehrlich, Diana Eades, And Janet Ainsworth. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. Cover 1 Series 3 Discursive Constructions of Consent in the Legal Process 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Contributors 10 1. Introduction: Linguistic and Discursive Dimensions of Consent 16 Section 1 Free and Voluntary Consent 36 2. Culture, Cursing, and Coercion: The Impact of Police Officer Swearing on the Voluntariness of Consent to Search in Police-Citizen Interactions 38 3. Post-penetration Rape: Coercion or Freely Given Consent? 62 4. Erasing Context in the Courtroom Construal of Consent 86 Section 2 Informed Consent or Ritualized Consent? 106 5. Talking the Ethical Turn: Drawing on Tick-Box Consent in Policing 108 6. Transparent and Opaque Consent in Contract Formation 133 7. The Empty Performative? Informed Consent to Genetic Research 155 Section 3 The Influence of Discursive Practices 176 8. Promoting Litigant Consent to Arbitration in Multilingual Small Claims Court 178 9. Consent and Compliance in Youth Justice Conferences 201 10. Nonconsent and Discursive Resistance: Radical Reformulation in a Post-sting Police Interview 228 Section 4 The Coercive Force of Cautions 254 11. Totality of Circumstances and Translating the Miranda Warnings 256 12. Negotiating the Right to Remain Silent in Inquisitorial Trials 279 13. “No Comment” Responses to Questions in Police Investigative Interviews 304 Name Index 334 Subject Index 340