Characteristics of the defendant - JDM Flashcards
what are 3 characteristics of the defendant which can influence jury verdict
attractiveness
gender
race
A - halo effect (physical attractiveness stereotype)
cognitive bias where the overall impression of a person influences how we feel and think about his or her character
tendency of people to rate attractive people more favourably for their personality traits than those who are less attractive
A - how may juries use their schemas of attractive people?
schemas based on the media, where attractive people are often portrayed as heroes and unattractive people as villains
A - Taylor and Butcher (2007)
mock jury study - ppts given a ficticious write up of a mugging with a photo attached
photos varied - attractive vs unattractive and race
more attractive people were judged as less guilty of a crime and given lower sentences than unattractive people
A - how are attractive people treated in court compared to unattractive people
attractive people are treated better and gained aquittal, lighter sentences and the sympathy of the jury
not the case if attractiveness was used to aid their crime
could be due to the stereotypes that people hold about the appearance of criminals
A - Sigall and Ostrove (1975)
gave ppts an account of various crimes alongside side photos and they had to sentence the defendant to the number of years they felt appropriate
for burglary, attractive people received a more lenient sentence than those who were not
fraud saw more attractive people receive harsher sentences
demonstrates that the type of crime matters in relation to attractiveness influencing decisions
G - why are women seen as less likely to commit crimes
female defendants are often mothers with primary responsibility for their children - which makes them unlikely to commit a crime and/or the court treats them more leniently
female defendants are more believable than male defendants, and this assumption is likely to be based on males committing high risk crimes and having high-reoffending rates (McCoy and Gray)
A - Downs and Lyon (1991)
judges imposed lower fines on attractive defendants
meta-analysis of 400 judges involved in 1500 court cases
G - why may women be more likely to be judged as guilty?
if she has violated her gender role, meaning she is more likely to be viewed in negative terms and judged as guilty
Nunez et al (2007) - female and male defendents are responded to differently. pre-conceived notions of the traditional roles of males and females are a possible explanation for these findings
R - what is the proportion of ethnic minorities in prison and the Uk general population prison rate
15% of ethnic minorities in prison
8% of the UK - general population
R - Carter and Mazzula (2013)
used 210 mock jurors
found that there was in group and out-group bias when deciding the outcome of an employment case
shows that race does affect the jury and their decision making
R - Johnson (2002)
found that a group of white ppts made more situational attributions about a white defendant and suggested more lenient punishments than for black defendants
shows that ethnicity can affect someones decision of punishment
R - what are the stereotypes about race and crime?
black men are more likely to commit a crime
stereotyping can influence the recall and interpretation of information
R - Mazzella and Feingold (1994)
no overall effect of ethnicity on mock jury decsions of guilt or innocence
reflects an inconsistency with the rate of stereotyping of different ethnic groups
however, found punishment was supported by ethnic groups - supported by Johnson (2002)
