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Ex-offenders on the Stand: Steps toward Eliminating Jury Bias
Abstract
The status of “ex-offender” has many negative consequences and proves especially damaging when an ex-offender is accused of a new crime. Previous research provides evidence that jurors are more prone to convict defendants when the defendent has a prior criminal record. The purpose of this article is to provide attorneys with a list of resources identified to correlate with attitudes toward ex-offenders. With this list, attorneys will be better able to identify potential jurors that hold stigmatizing attitudes toward ex-offenders. Grounded in the theories of normalization and legitimation, key juror attitudes to address during jury selection are highlighted, including authoritarianism, victimization history, and exposure to ex-offenders. We specifically articulate sample resources from the public domain for use by attorneys.
... Moreover, researchers (e.g. Petersilia 2004;Travis 2000;Atkin-Plunk, Cramer 2012) argue that former prisoners have not enough various professional skills but also experience a clear lack of support from local communities and families. Among factors which affect failures in the process of social re-adaptation we can list the following: perpetuated 'criminal status' and the stigma it entails (Atkin-Plunk, Cramer 2012), numerous formal and legal limitations imposed on former prisoners in terms of housing and employment (Hoskins 2014), lack of economic means and adverse social and living conditions (Lynch, Sabol 2001;Petersilia 2003;Petersilia 2004;Solinas-Saunders et al. 2015), as well as the tendency to take risks and to undertake activities harmful for one's mental and physical health (tobacco, alcohol and drug abuse) (Butler et al. 2004;Jarrett et al. 2006;Eshareturi et al. 2013). ...
The article focuses on the family relations of people sentenced to imprisonment. The aim of the project is to study the relations between former prisoners and their family members, particularly to define various strategies of rebuilding family relations, applied by former prisoners in the process of social adaptation. Based on the reconstruction of biographies of adult people who experienced the imprisonment of a parent during their childhood, adolescence and early adulthood, the author characterised various strategies of rebuilding relations, as well as difficulties and setbacks connected with breaking and losing the bond. The study made use of qualitative strategies of sociological analyses (biographical method). 31 narrative interviews with people who experienced penitentiary isolation of their parent (adult children of prisoners, aged between 18 and 70) were conducted as part of the study.
... However, every single potential juror, felon or nonfelon, is prone to having at least some sort of bias, whether conscious or unconscious. Those who politically identify as conservative are more prone to having heavily punitive attitudes towards ex-offenders (and offenders in general) while those who identify as liberal have less punitive attitudes towards ex-offenders; those who have been personally victimized or those who have a family member who has been victimized also tend to have more punitive attitudes towards ex-offenders, yet these groups of people are not legally barred from participating as potential jurors (Atkin and Cramer, 2012). In his studies, Binnall finds that convicted felons have similar pretrial biases as law students in that they have generally slightly pro-defense and anti-prosecution biases. ...
In his book, Twenty Million Angry Men: The Case for Including Convicted Felons in Our Jury System, James Binnall discusses whether or not there is sound empirical evidence that proves that ex-convicts should be barred from participating in jury duty. Currently, most states in the United States permanently forbid those with a felony conviction from serving as a juror while some states allow convicted felons to serve only after their entire sentence (including parole and probation) is completed; Maine is the only state that has no restrictions whatsoever.
There is considerable evidence that people with intellectual disability (PWID) are at an increased risk of offending and are overrepresented in correctional settings. There is also widespread concern, despite the lack of a robust evidence base, that PWID are more likely to be victims of crime, and that victimisation of PWID is underreported. To date, much of the extant research has employed methodologies that are unable to quantify the risk of both offending and victimisation for PWID compared to the community, and/or use samples inclusive of the Borderline range of intellectual disability (ID). In order to address these concerns, epidemiological research is required, using a population-based, well-defined sample of PWID, and measures of offending and victimisation derived from official criminal records. This research study utilised a large sample of PWID (n=2220) from a database held by the Department of Human Services in Victoria, Australia, and matched these with contact-based records from Victoria Police and the Department of Health to quantify the risk for offending and victimisation, and consider any impact of dual disability on this risk. Data was then compared to a community sample derived from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), to determine the differences in risk between PWID and the general population. Results indicated increased risk for offending in PWID when compared to the community sample, particularly for violent and sexual offence types. Results also showed that PWID were less likely to have been a victim of crime overall, but their risk for being a victim of violent or sexual offences was far greater than people without an ID. Dual disability increased risk for offending and victimisation over and above ID; however the nature of this relationship remains complex. This suggests a lack of specialised services necessary to support and protect these individuals. Providing training to employees in justice, health and disability services to identify and treat the mental health issues of PWID may go a long way to redressing the balance.
Purpose
Ex-prisoners often face significant challenges in their efforts to find meaningful and stable work, undermining their chances of successful reintegration back into the community. These problems are likely to be compounded for those who have an intellectual disability (ID), given evidence that the disabled generally experience high levels of discrimination when applying for and maintaining jobs. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether members of the public hold different attitudes and expectations towards the employment of ex-offenders who have an ID and a history of criminal offending.
Design/methodology/approach
Samples of 642 participants, recruited via social media, were presented with vignettes, and then completed a short survey designed to measure their attitudes and expectations towards the employment of ex-offenders.
Findings
Whilst the presence of a mild ID did not significantly affect community attitudes towards ex-offender employment, it did change expectations about employment outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
It appears that ex-offenders are perceived as a homogenous group of people, despite actual and substantial differences existing within this population.
Practical implications
There is a need to actively educate the community about differences between subgroups of ex-offenders in relation to the employment needs of those with an ID.
Social implications
The social inclusion of ex-offenders with an ID lies at the heart of any effective and progressive criminal justice policy.
Originality/value
This is one of the only studies that has examined public attitudes towards this group.
In the present paper, we describe an example trial consulting course at the graduate level of training in psychology. Drawing on existing competency training, teaching of psychology, and trial consulting literatures, we propose: a) a base course model suitable for adaptation to other graduate programs, b) course learner objectives with associated example teaching techniques, c) guiding themes to frame seminar discussions, and d) a thematic course schedule. Sample student-driven publications and inter-disciplinary student contact show promise for the utility of such a graduate course. Limitations and future directions for education in psychological trial consulting are also discussed.
In Houston, Texas, returning prisoners face many challenges, from securing housing and employment to rebuilding relationships with their families and support networks, while at the same time attempting to avoid old pathways to criminal behavior and substance abuse. The impact of prisoner reentry, however, extends far beyond these individuals and their families and friends. The communities to which former prisoners return and the local government and social service networks that serve these communities have a significant stake in the successful reintegration of returning prisoners. This research brief explores prisoner reentry from the perspective of Houston stakeholders and community members.
Despite scholarly criticism, juror attitudes or individual differences might affect verdict choice in criminal trials. Authoritarianism is a face valid predictor. 20 studies exploring the authoritarianism–verdict relation were meta-analyzed to test this hypothesis. Authoritarianism measure (traditional or legal), S type, presentation medium of trial, and type of crime were examined as moderators of the effect. Results support an authoritarianism–verdict relation and the moderator effect of authoritarianism type. Legal authoritarianism correlated more strongly with verdict. S type, presentation medium, and type of crime were also significant moderators. Implications for future research, as well as for legal and judicial practice, are discussed. This evidence strengthens the case for extended voir dire procedure in criminal courts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Finding legitimate employment upon release from prison is an important, yet daunting, aspect of offender reentry. Researchers have argued that negative employer attitudes toward hiring ex-offenders act as a barrier during the job search process. This study explored existing attitudes of employers in their willingness to hire ex-offenders in the current labor market and determined whether these attitudes were dependent on the concentration of ex-offenders in the surrounding geographical community. Mail surveys and follow-up telephone contacts with a random sample of businesses that typically employ ex-offenders within 12 Texas zip-codes (six high parolee concentrations, six low parolee concentrations) were conducted. Respondents indicated a general willingness to hire ex-offenders, which did not vary by concentration of parolees in the surrounding area but was found to vary by the conviction offense. Other significant predictors included the respondent’s age and arrest history, whether their business was currently hiring, and whether the business had previously hired an ex-offender.
A questionnaire was constructed to measure individual differences in pretrial bias among jurors. The final Likert scale, called the Juror Bias Scale (JBS), contains 17 items—8 that reflect pretrial expectancies that defendants, in general, commit the crimes with which they are charged and 9 that reflect the value attached to conviction and punishment. The scale is internally consistent and test-retest reliable. Scores are uncorrelated with social desirability, moderately correlated with I-E control and belief in a just world, and more highly correlated with authoritarianism. In one validation experiment, student jurors were exposed to three trial presentations in a laboratory setting. Overall, subjects classified as prosecution biased were more conviction prone and adopted a less stringent standard of reasonable doubt. In a second study, community jurors watched one of two videotaped mock trials in a courtroom. Prosecution-biased subjects asserted a higher probability that the defendent committed the crime and rendered a higher percentage of guilty verdicts than defense-biased subjects for one of the two trials. JBS scores were unrelated to all demographic variables, but were significantly correlated with political views. The potential uses and limitations of the JBS are discussed.
During jury selection, many courts adopt a minimal approach to voir dire questions, asking a small number of close-ended questions to groups of prospective jurors and requiring prospective jurors to volunteer their biases. This Article describes research evidence showing that limited voir dire questioning is often ineffective in detecting juror bias. To improve the effectiveness of voir dire, the authors make four recommendations: (1) increase the use of juror questionnaires; (2) incorporate some open-ended questions; (3) expand the types of questions that are asked; and (4) allow attorneys to participate in voir dire.
Changes in sentencing practices, coupled with a decrease in prison rehabilitation programs, have placed new demands on the U.S. parole system. Nearly 700,000 parolees are “doing time” on the streets. Most have been released to a parole system that provides few services and imposes conditions that almost guarantee failure. This article examines the state of parole in today's corrections environment—from indeterminate and determinate sentencing policies to investing in prisoner reentry programs. Specifically, the article analyzes the following collateral consequences involved with recycling parolees in and out of families and communities: community cohesion and social disorganization, work and economic well-being, family matters, mental and physical health, political alienation, and housing and homelessness. The future of parole is also discussed, and the author urges a rethinking of discretionary parole release.
An often-repeated claim by conservative commentators attributes continuing liberal beliefs to the fact that progressives "have not been mugged." This claim thus portrays leftist views on public policy, including crime, as utopian, if not disingenuous - as held by people who have not had to face harsh realities. Using national-level data from the General Social Survey that span two decades, we test this "mugging thesis." Controlling for an array of predictors of public opinion, we find no discernible relationship between being a crime victim and having a conservative worldview, support for conservative social policies, or punitiveness toward crime as measured by support for the death penalty and for harsher courts. These results question the validity of the "mugging thesis" and, more generally, of attempts to use slogans to undermine progressive political agendas.
Finding sustained employment is an important component of the transition from prison to the community for exiting prisoners. Anecdotal reports from former prisoners indicate that most individuals experience great difficulties finding jobs after their release. However, little systematic information is available about the employment experiences of individuals released from prison or the characteristics of former prisoners who are successful in locating employment. Using a causal framework, this paper examines the employment experiences of a multi-state sample of former prisoners, and identifies the individual factors influencing the likelihood of employment after release from prison, using data gathered from interviews with prisoners before and at multiple times after release. Findings indicate that consistent work experience before incarceration, connection to employers before release, and conventional family relationships improve employment outcomes after release. Individuals who relapse to drug use quickly after release, have chronic physical or mental health problems, and are older or nonwhite are employed fewer months after a period of incarceration.
Contingencies between 23 demographic/personality variables and jury verdict, juror predeliberational verdict, tendency to change his or her verdict, and self-perceived participation and influence were examined by step-wise multiple regression for 319 felony jurors. Conviction-prone male Ss were more interested in having families, had more children, and had lower incomes. They evidenced higher authoritarianism and socialization but lower scores on the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. Conviction-prone female Ss had higher scores on the Just World Scale, evidenced legal authoritarianism, and were more empathic and less anomic. In this venue, S's foreign ancestry was more remote. In addition, predictors were identified for the S's tendency to change verdicts and to perceive himself or herself as participating in and influencing the jury's deliberation. The practical utility of scientific juror selection in actual trials is discussed. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation have been proposed as 2 major individual difference variables underlying prejudice. This study examined the relationships of these variables to 3 forms of prejudice—affective responses, stereotyping, and attitudes toward equality enhancement—directed at 2 social groups—African Americans and homosexuals. Canonical correlation analyses showed that social dominance orientation was related to most forms of prejudice directed toward both groups and that right-wing authoritarianism was related to affective responses to and stereotyping of homosexuals. In addition, it was found that, as predicted by the social dominance model, stereotyping mediated the relationships between social dominance orientation and other forms of prejudice and that social dominance orientation mediated gender differences in expressions of prejudice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The rationale for allowing into evidence a defendant’s criminal record asserts that such evidence can be used for the limited purpose of impeaching a defendant witness’s credibility and, in accord with judges' instructions, will not be used to assess likelihood of guilt. The effect that the defendant’s prior record has on mock jurors' assessments of credibility and guilt was tested in a two (cases) x four (type of prior conviction) factorial design. Adult’s ratings of the defendant’s credibility did not vary as a function of prior record and were consistently the lowest of the credibility ratings of all witnesses. Conviction rates did vary by prior record, however, with the highest conviction rate occurring when the prior conviction was the same as the present charge and the lowest conviction rate occurring in the no-prior-conviction condition. Defendants with a previous conviction for perjury or a dissimilar crime were convicted at an intermediate rate. We concluded that the risk of prejudice to the defense under existing policy is greater than the unrealized potential benefit to the prosecution.
Several researchers have investigated the impact of evidence of prior convictions on jurors' decision making. Very little is known about a related issue, the impact of prioracquittal evidence introduced by the prosecution on jurors' decisions. The Supreme Court recently held (Dowling v. U.S., 1990) that the admission of prior acquittal evidence does not unfairly prejudice the defendant. We conducted a simulation study to examine the effects of prior record evidence (prior convictions, prior acquittals, and no prior record) on jurors' decisions. We also manipulated the presence of judicial instructions on the limited use jurors can make of extrinsic acts evidence. Mock jurors were more likely to convict the defendant when they had evidence of a prior conviction than when they had evidence of a prior acquittal or no record evidence. This effect was mediated by attributions about criminal propensity. Judge's limiting instructions were ineffective in guiding jurors' use of prior record evidence.
This study provides a straightforward test of the proposition that people who are permitted to serve on juries in capital cases (death-qualified jurors) are more likely to convict a defendant than are people who are excluded from serving on capital juries due to their unwillingness to impose the death penalty (excludable jurors). A sample of 288 subjects classified as death-qualified or excludable under theWitherspoon standard watched a 2 1/2-hour videotape of a simulated homicide trial including the judge's instructions, and gave an initial verdict. Death-qualified subjects were significantly more likely than excludable subjects to vote guilty, both on the initial ballot and after an hour's deliberation in 12-person juries. Nine juries were composed entirely of death-qualified subjects (death-qualified juries), while 10 contained from 2 to 4 excludable subjects (mixed juries). On postdeliberation measures, with initial death-penalty attitudes controlled, subjects who had served on the mixed juries were generally more critical of the witnesses, less satisfied with their juries, and better able to remember the evidence than subjects from the death-qualified juries, suggesting that diversity may improve the vigor, thoroughness, and accuracy of the jury's deliberations.
HYPOTHESIZES THAT MERE REPEATED EXPOSURE OF THE INDIVIDUAL TO A STIMULUS OBJECT ENHANCES HIS ATTITUDE TOWARD IT. BY "MERE" EXPOSURE IS MEANT A CONDITION MAKING THE STIMULUS ACCESSIBLE TO PERCEPTION. SUPPORT FOR THE HYPOTHESIS CONSISTS OF 4 TYPES OF EVIDENCE, PRESENTED AND REVIEWED: (1) THE CORRELATION BETWEEN AFFECTIVE CONNOTATION OF WORDS AND WORD FREQUENCY, (2) THE EFFECT OF EXPERIMENTALLY MANIPULATED FREQUENCY OF EXPOSURE UPON THE AFFECTIVE CONNOTATION OF NONSENSE WORDS AND SYMBOLS, (3) THE CORRELATION BETWEEN WORD FREQUENCY AND THE ATTITUDE TO THEIR REFERENTS, AND (4) THE EFFECTS OF EXPERIMENTALLY MANIPULATED FREQUENCY OF EXPOSURE ON ATTITUDE. THE RELEVANCE FOR THE EXPOSURE-ATTITUDE HYPOTHESIS OF THE EXPLORATION THEORY AND OF THE SEMANTIC SATIATION FINDINGS WERE EXAMINED. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
Three studies were conducted to examine the relevance of authoritarianism to contemporary social attitudes, with special emphasis on AIDS, drug use, and the environment. In Studies 1 and 2, students scoring higher on authoritarianism (measured by Byrne's balanced F scale and Altemeyer's Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale, respectively) were more likely to endorse harsh, punitive sentiments and solutions to the problems of AIDS and drugs and less likely to endorse more egalitarian ones. These two issues are presumed to represent a threat to the "American way of life" and provide clear out-groups for authoritarian aggression. Regarding the environment, authoritarians express hostility toward the environmental movement, rather than toward polluters. In Study 3, authoritarianism was further related to attitudes on abortion, child abuse, homelessness, the space program, the trade deficit, political changes in the Soviet Union, and the purposes of colleges and universities. These results show that the concept of authoritarianism is applicable to attitudes on many important issues of the 1 990s. Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68780/2/10.1177_0146167293192006.pdf
To test some of the differences between the subjective and objective approaches to the entrapment defense, 147 undergraduate jurors viewed a videotaped trial and were presented with either subjective test or objective test instructions. Ss deliberated, returned a verdict, and then completed a questionnaire that measured their understanding of the instructions and trial facts. Results show that comprehension of the principal features of the objective test was very poor, indicating that those instructions should be simplified. Admission of a prior conviction had a significant impact on verdicts in the subjective test condition, but not in the objective test condition, suggesting that the subjective test instructions are effective in encouraging jurors to use prior convictions as evidence of guilt. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)
The purposes of this article are to determine (a) employer attitudes toward hiring ex-offenders and (b) how these attitudes are affected by the level of training the ex-offender received while incarcerated, government incentives to hire, type of offense committed, and the relationship of the crime to the job to be filled. Eighty-three Houston and Dallas employers were surveyed on their attitudes toward hiring ex-offenders. In general, although the initial willingness to hire ex-offenders was low among employers, other findings indicate that the level of education, government incentives, and the relationship of the crime to the job increase employer willingness to hire an ex-offender. The type of offense, however, when disclosed, appears to have a negative effect on employers' willingness to hire, especially toward those with violent and sexual crimes as well as crimes against children. Limitations and policy applications of the findings are also discussed.
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The construction and validation of the Attitudes toward Prisoners (ATP) scale are described. Factor analysis resulted in a 36-item Likert scale with the items correlating at least .47 with a general factor. The ATP scale possesses moderate to high split-half (r= .84 to .92) and test-retest (r= .82) reliability. No evidence of response distortion was found. A number of comparisons between selected groups provided considerable evidence of validity. Groups of prisoners, as well as persons engaged in prisoner rehabilitation or prison reform, scored highest on the scale. Intermediate-scoring groups consisted of students, a community sample, and correctional officers. As predicted, the group with lowest average ATP scores consisted of law enforcement officers.
This article considers the relationship between employers' attitudes toward hiring exoffenders and their actual hiring behavior. Using data from an experimental audit study of entry-level jobs matched with a telephone survey of the same employers, the authors compare employers' willingness to hire black and white ex-offenders, as represented both by their self-reports and by their decisions in actual hiring situations. Employers who indicated a greater likelihood of hiring ex-offenders in the survey were no more likely to hire an ex-offender in practice. Furthermore, although the survey results indicated no difference in the likelihood of hiring black versus white ex-offenders, audit results show large differences by race. These comparisons suggest that employer surveys-even those using an experimental design to control for social desirability bias-may be insufficient for drawing conclusions about the actual level of hiring discrimination against stigmatized groups.
The majority (53%) of 62 Baltimore area employers surveyed were willing to hire an ex-offender described in a hypothetical scenario. Employers’greatest apprehensions concerned ex-offenders’ people skills and their customers’ discomfort if customers knew that an ex-convict worked for them. Also, the data show that employers’willingness to take advantage of a program with subsidized wages and their fear of being victimized were related to their degree of social contact with ex-convicts. These findings suggest that ex-offenders would benefit from programs enhancing people skills and that employerswith greater familiarity with ex-convicts can more easily dismiss negative stereotypes about this population.
Evidence for a substantial deterrent effect is much firmer than it was two decades ago. However, large gaps in knowledge on the links between policy actions and behavior make it difficult to assess the effectiveness of policy options for deterring crime. There are four major impediments. First, analyses must estimate not only short-term consequences but also calibrate long-term effects. Some policies that are effective in preventing crime in the short term may be ineffective or even criminogenic in the long run because they may erode the foundation of the deterrent effect-fear of stigmatization. Second, knowledge about the relationship of sanction risk perceptions to policy is virtually nonexistent; such knowledge would be invaluable in designing effective crime-deterrent policies. Third, estimates of deterrent effects based on data from multiple governmental units measure a policy's average effectiveness across unit. It is important to understand better the sources of variation in response across place and time. Fourth, research on the links between intended and actual policy is fragmentary; a more complete understanding of the technology of sanction generation is necessary for identifying the boundaries of feasible policy.
This paper explores the relationship between liberalism, victimization experience (both direct and vicarious), fear of victimization, and attitudes towards purposes of incarceration. The study makes use of a national public opinion poll conducted for ABC News in 1982. The major findings are that both fear and liberalism contribute to punitiveness but, more importantly, individual demographic characteristics are ambiguously related to punitiveness. It appears that demographic characteristics are related to punitiveness through a complex of other attitudinal associations—in this instance, fear and liberalism. Neither direct nor vicarious victimization had a direct effect on punishment attitudes. To the extent that victimization experience affects punitiveness, the effects are indirect through fear.
This study involves scale development using theoretically derived items from previous measures and a lay consensual approach for generating new items. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the emergent constructs assessing individual differences in attitudes of prospective jurors. Using case summaries, the Pretrial Juror Attitude Questionnaire (PJAQ) demonstrates superior predictive validity over commonly employed measures of pretrial bias. The PJAQ confirms the importance of theoretically derived constructs assessed by other scales and introduces new constructs to the jury decision-making literature. The attitudes assessed by the PJAQ are conviction proneness, system confidence, cynicism toward the defense, racial bias, social justice, and innate criminality. Implications for assessing such attitudes and for better understanding the decision-making process of jurors are discussed.
Research on social stigma and disadvantage has flourished in the past two decades. The authors highlight the theoretical and methodological advancements that have been made, such as how experience sampling procedures and neuroscience have shed light on processes associated with social stigma. Finally, the authors discuss policy implications of historical and contemporary research on social stigma and disadvantage, as well as address ideas for future research that may be useful in creating policies and programs that promote social equality.
This study probes the interconnections among distrust of government, the historical context, and public support for the death penalty in the United States with survey data for area-identified samples of white and black respondents. Multilevel statistical analyses indicate contrary effects of government distrust on support for the death penalty for blacks and whites, fostering death penalty support among whites and diminishing it among blacks. In addition, we find that the presence of a “vigilante tradition,” as indicated by a history of lynching, promotes death penalty support among whites but not blacks. Finally, contrary to Zimring's argument in The Contradictions of Capital Punishment, we find no evidence that vigilantism moderates the influence of government distrust on support for the death penalty, for either whites or blacks. Our analyses highlight the continuing influence of historical context as well as contemporary conditions in the formation of public attitudes toward criminal punishment, and they underscore the importance of attending to racial differences in the analysis of punitive attitudes.
This paper examines the relationship between AIDS-related stigma and (a) direct, personal contact with people with AIDS (PWAs), and (b) vicarious contact—through mass media—with a public figure with AIDS or HIV. Data are presented from a 2-wave national telephone survey with a probability sample of US. adults (ns = 538 at Wave 1; 382 at Wave 2) and an oversample of Black Americans (ns = 607 and 420, respectively). Direct contact with a PWA was associated with less support for coercive AIDS policies, less blame for PWAs, and less avoidance of PWAs. Vicarious contact–operationalized as the self-reported impact of Earvin “Magic” Johnson's disclosure of his HIV infection–appeared to have its greatest impact among respondents who previously had manifested high levels of stigma. In that group, levels of stigma diminished somewhat to the extent that respondents reported having been strongly influenced by Johnson's announcement.
This article explores theoretical and applied questions that are relevant to social scientists' efforts to understand and confront sexual stigma. A framework is presented for conceptualizing such stigma as a cultural phenomenon with structural and individual manifestations. The latter include enacted stigma and felt stigma, as well as internalized stigma, which encompasses self-stigma among sexual minorities and sexual prejudice among heterosexuals. Insights suggested by the model for reducing sexual prejudice are discussed. At the structural level, the framework highlights processes whereby heterosexism legitimates and perpetuates sexual stigma and the power differentials that it creates. Social and behavioral scientists, roles in working to eliminate heterosexism are discussed, and psychologists' contributions to court cases challenging state sodomy laws are described. It is argued that confronting sexual stigma will not only address an important social problem but will also enrich scientific understanding of human behavior.
The Legal Attitudes Questionnaire (LAQ) predicts juror bias, but there is little evidence concerning its reliability and construct validity. Two studies provide such evidence for two versions of the LAQ. In Study 1 a questionnaire containing both versions of the LAQ, measures of related and unrelated constructs, and demographic questions was completed by 294 undergraduates. In Study 2 a shortened questionnaire was completed by 102 jury-eligible adults. In both studies, the revised version of the LAQ was superior to the original LAQ in terms of missing data, internal reliability, and construct validity. A refined version of the revised scale is presented, evaluated, and recommended for future use.
In three studies legal authoritarianism, attitudes toward psychiatrists, and attitudes toward the insanity defense were examined as predictors of conviction-proneness in insanity defense cases. In Study 1 subjects responded to a juror selection survey containing a brief version of a case, a verdict form, and measures of the constructs mentioned above. In Studies 2 and 3 subjects completed measures of the relevant constructs, viewed a videotaped enactment of an insanity defense case, and rendered verdicts. The three studies converge on the conclusion that legal authoritarianism, attitudes toward psychiatrists, and attitudes toward the insanity defense reliably predict conviction-proneness. In addition, Study 2 compares two separate measures of legal authoritarianism and Study 3 examines the reliability and factor structure of a newly devised instrument for assessing attitudes toward psychiatrists and the insanity defense. The implications of these findings for current jury selection procedures are discussed.
Successful community reentry and the criminological impact of incarceration may depend in part on the attitudes (and consequent reactions) that prisoners encounter after release. Theories of social stigma suggest that such attitudes depend, in turn, on the levels of familiarity with the stigmatized group (the normalization thesis) as well as on the credibility and trust they accord to sanctioning agents (the legitimation thesis). To assess these two hypotheses, we present the first multivariate analysis of public attitudes toward ex-offenders. Data from a four-state, random-digit telephone survey of more than 2,000 individuals indicate that, net of controls, personal familiarity with ex-offenders may soften attitudes, whereas confidence in the courts may harden them. As expected, non-Hispanic Whites, conservatives, and southern residents hold more negative views of ex-offenders. Our findings lend indirect support to concerns that incarceration is becoming " normalized" , and we suggest strategies for reducing the stigma of incarceration.
This article uses unique data from over 300 criminal trials in four large counties to study the relations between the existence of a prior criminal record and defendants testifying at trial, between testifying at trial and juries' learning about a criminal record, and between juries' learning about a criminal record and their decisions to convict or acquit. Sixty percent of defendants without criminal records testified compared to 45 percent with criminal records. For testifying defendants with criminal records, juries learned of those records in about half the cases. Juries rarely learned about criminal records unless defendants testified. After controlling for evidentiary strength and other factors, statistically significant associations exist (1) between the existence of a criminal record and the decision to testify at trial, (2) between the defendant testifying at trial and the jury learning about the defendant's prior record, and (3) in cases with weak evidence, between the jury learning of a criminal record and conviction. For cases with strong evidence against defendants, learning of criminal records is not strongly associated with conviction rates. Juries appear to rely on criminal records to convict when other evidence in the case normally would not support conviction. Use of prior record evidence may therefore lead to erroneous convictions. Prosecutors and judges should consider the increased likelihood of erroneous conviction based on use of prior convictions in decisions to prosecute and in evidentiary rulings.
White participants were exposed to other-race or own-race faces to test the generalized mere exposure hypothesis in the domain of face perception, namely that exposure to a set of faces yields increased liking for similar faces that have never been seen. In Experiment 1, rapid supraliminal exposures to Asian faces increased White participants' subsequent liking for a different set of Asian faces. In Experiment 2, subliminal exposures to Black faces increased White participants' subsequent liking for a different set of Black faces. The findings are consistent with prominent explanations for mere exposure effects as well as with the familiar face overgeneralization hypothesis that prejudice derives in part from negative reactions to faces that deviate from the familiar own-race prototype.
Child sex abuse cases have been the target of considerable psycho-legal research. The present paper offers an analysis of psychological constructs for jury selection in child sex abuse cases from the defense perspective. The authors specifically delineate general and case-specific jury selection variables. General variables include authoritarianism, dogmatism, need for cognition, pretrial knowledge, and race/socioeconomic status. Case-specific variables include sexual attitudes, homonegativity, juror abuse history, and beliefs about children. The paper also provides a factual background of a representative case, incorporates relevant case law, identifies sources for voir dire and juror questionnaire items, and discusses lessons from the primary author's first experience as a trial consultant for the defense.
The AIDS epidemic has been accompanied by intensely negative public reactions to persons presumed to be infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In this article, we define such reactions as AIDS-related stigma. We discuss two major sources of this stigma: the identification of AIDS as a deadly disease and the association of AIDS in the United States with already stigmatized groups, especially gay men. We describe some of the social and psychological processes that contribute to AIDS-related stigma and offer suggestions for eradicating stigma through public policy and individual education.
This study extends the application of modified labeling theory to the experience of courtesy stigma in families of children with disabilities. The study utilizes a mixed methods approach that integrates quantitative analysis of survey data, qualitative analysis of interactive interviews and personal narrative. A survey of 81 mothers of children with disabilities in Florida, USA, is used to test hypotheses related to the impact of perceived stigma on emotional and social outcomes for mothers and children. The author's experience as the mother of a child with cerebral palsy and interactive interviews with seven other mothers with similar experiences are used to contextualize, humanize and help interpret the quantitative findings. Results indicate that controlling for the effects of salient maternal and child characteristics and the daily hassles of caring for a child with a disability (objective burden), maternal perceptions that individuals with disabilities are devalued and discriminated against (stigmatized) by others increases maternal distress (subjective burden). Findings also indicate that children of mothers who perceive high levels of stigma interact less frequently with age peers in the informal settings of homes and neighborhoods.
Prisoners in 1994 Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 151654 Mr. Prejudice, Miss Sympathy, and the authoritarian personality: An application of psychological measuring techniques to the problem of jury bias
- A J Beck
- D K Gilliard
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