Ambiguity and Guilt Determinations: A Modern Racism Perspective1

Jeffrey E. Pfeifer · James R. P. Ogloff

98 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Applied Social Psychology

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Jury Decision Making Processes Legal processes and jurisprudence Social and Intergroup Psychology

Abstract

Studies documenting the existence of prejudice in simulated juror ratings of guilt may not be directly generalizable to legal applications due to a failure to include jury instructions. Jury instructions specifying the conditions required to find a defendant guilty may serve to dissipate juror's overt prejudices. In order to investigate this hypothesis, participants read a transcript of a trial in which the race of the victim and the defendant were varied. In addition, half the participants were given jury instructions which specified the elements of the crime, and noted that in order to find the defendant guilty each element had to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Participants were then asked to rate the guilt of the defendant. Results replicated earlier studies which found that participants overwhelmingly rate black defendants guiltier than white defendants, especially when the victim is white. However, these differences disappeared when participants were provided with jury instructions. The findings are discussed with regard to the theory of modern racism.

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References

1977Attitude-behavior relations: A theoretical analysis and review of empirical research.2004Handbook of social psychology 2005Prejudice, Discrimination and Racism 1986Modern racism, ambivalence, and the Modern Racism Scale.1986The aversive form of racism.1983Inside the jury 1983Inside the Jury 1979Law, Justice, and the Individual in Society: Psychological and Legal Issues

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