Credibility On Trial: A Narrative Hermeneutic Inquiry

Determining a sexual assault victim/complainant’s credibility remains a problematic practice during the legal process. Utilizing a narrative hermeneutic approach allows for the interpretation of how one participant (n=1) used their narrative from a first-person, lived-experience perspective to describe the phenomenon of having their credibility assessed and how they made sense of and gave meaning to it. Understanding how this participant was uniquely impacted by various intersecting factors within the legal process and other institutions reveal how these systems can reinforce, worsen, or perpetuate disadvantages in testifying. By learning what one victim-survivor’s testimony teaches us about how credibility is determined in the legal process, we can develop trauma-informed1 approaches aimed at harm-reduction interactions with them at every stage, providing valuable insights for legal actors, scholars, educators, community members, and society. Re-imagining the process of assessing credibility through voice, re-storying, and language can be powerful tools to counter the dominant narratives surrounding victim-survivor credibility, and remains an essential practice towards empathy and understanding, as well as feelings of justice and healing for the victim.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education Graduate Program – Educational Research

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Graduate Studies

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Mitchell, Hiyat Assef

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Sumara, Dennis

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Sengupta, Pratim
• Koshan, Jennifer
• Ducey, Ariel
• Sanford, Kathy

• Credibility
• Sexual Assault
• narrative hermeneutics
• phenomenology
• trauma

Statement dc:rights

• University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/51186

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:1880/124349