Factors Affecting Jury Decision Flashcards
What are the four factors affecting jury decision?
- Race
- Gender
- Accents
- Attractiveness
How does race affect jury decision?
Race of the defendant → Racial bias - is a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgement made soley on the an indviduals race
Examples of research to support race being a factor affecting jury decision? - (hint: Mitchell et al 2005)
Mitchell et al 2005 conducted a meta analysis looking at mock juror decision making and racial bias. They found racial bias in American Justice system reporting that black male drug users are 13 times more likely to be sentenced to jail then white drug users
Examples of research to support race being a factor affecting jury decision? - (hint: Thomas et al 2010)
Thomas (2010) found all white juries out of 41 did not dicriminate against BAME defendants and were more lilely tp convict a black or asian defendant more than a white one/
How does accents have an affect on jury decision making?
Accents - can have an influence on how a person is perceived by someone.
Examples of research to support how accents have an affect on jury decision making?
Dixon et al 1997 found that having a brummie accent was seen as having a low status and therefore were more likely to be found guilty out of many accents. Black people will Brummie acents were the most likely to be found guilty out of everyone, regardless of other case factors.
How does attractiveness have an affect on jury decision making?
Attractiveness bias - the tendency to see attractive people as more intelligent, competent, moral, and sociable than unattractive people → attractive people are generally perceived more positively than unattractive people → when defendants go to court they have to present themselves smart and tidy fashion to reduce negative sterotypes
Examples of research to support how attractiveness has an affect on jury decision making?
Efan 1974 - surveryed students and found 79% of the jury decisons should be based on character and previous history → 93% said physical appearance not influence a jury’s decision. Efran found that those were attractive were rated as guilty with less certainty
What is the Halo effect?
Halo effect - cognitive bias which single positive quality of a person may induce positive predisposition towards every aspect of a person. → people tend to rate attractive individuals more favorably for their personality traits and characteristics than those who are less attractive
How does gender affect jury decision making?
Gender - females are seen more believable than male defendants → type of sentence can be affected by gender → if you are seen to violate your gender role then this could influence a guilty verdict
Examples of research to support gender as a factor of decision making? (Hint: Umokoro and Egwuno)
Umokoro and Egwuno found that both sexes and attractiveness of the defendant affected the severity of the sentence by “mock judges”.
Examples of research to support gender as a factor of decision making? (Hint: Thomas at al 2011)
Thomas et al 2011 - used 24 ppts from a university and presented them with 2 murder cases. Ppts judged male defendants more harshly 23% guilty of murder compared to 20% of female defendants.
