Stereotypic Crimes: How Group-Crime Associations Affect Memory and (Sometimes) Verdicts and Sentencing
Stereotype-based judgments in the legal system can be particularly damaging. In Experiment 1, we surveyed 179 participants to assess which of 55 crimes they viewed as stereotypical of 13 groups of people. Stereotypic crimes based on ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and ag...
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Published in: | Victims & offenders Vol. 8; no. 3; pp. 278 - 307 |
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Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Journal Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Philadelphia
Routledge
01-07-2013
Taylor & Francis Ltd |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | Stereotype-based judgments in the legal system can be particularly damaging. In Experiment 1, we surveyed 179 participants to assess which of 55 crimes they viewed as stereotypical of 13 groups of people. Stereotypic crimes based on ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and age were found. We used these results to create crime scenarios for Experiments 2 and 3 that unconfounded crime stereotypicality and crime violence. We then examined the effects of stereotypic crimes with black or white defendants on mock jurors' memories and decisions. Memory biases were found in line with the stereotypic crimes. Offenders' verdicts and sentences were sometimes biased by stereotypic crimes. By unconfounding crime stereotypicality and violence, the results also demonstrate how violence influences biases in memories and decisions. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1556-4886 1556-4991 |
DOI: | 10.1080/15564886.2012.755140 |