Police use of body‐worn cameras (BWCs) is increasingly common in the USA. This article reports the results of one of the first experimental examinations of the effects of three BWC status conditions (absent, transcribed, viewed) and eyewitness race (Black, White) on mock jurors' case judgments, in a case in which a community member (defendant) was charged with resisting arrest but where the officer's use of force in conducting the arrest was controversial. Results provide evidence of significant main effects of both eyewitness race and BWC status. When the eyewitness supporting the defendant was White, mock jurors were less likely to vote the defendant guilty of resisting arrest, as well as more likely to consider the defendant credible and the officer culpable for the incident. In addition, when BWC footage of the arrest was viewed, compared with transcribed or absent, participants were less likely to vote the defendant guilty of resisting arrest, and also rated the officer's use of force less justifiable, and the officer more culpable and less credible. Follow‐up analyses demonstrated that these relationships between BWC condition and case judgments were all mediated by moral outrage toward the officer.
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This chapter reviews the role of race and ethnicity in shaping legal actors’ (e.g., police officers, attorneys, judges, jurors, parole officers) perceptions and judgments of youth victims and offenders. The intention of this review is to provide researchers with a comprehensive synthesis of the literature and to help front-line workers understand how race influences their interactions with racial minority youth. The chapter begins by considering racism in the criminal justice system generally and the research showing how race shapes perceptions of adult offenders and victims. The main focus is a review of research illustrating parallel findings in cases involving youthful offenders and victims. The chapter ends with recommendations for future research, as well as practical applications to improve law and public policy and to assist legal actors during their interactions with racial minority youth.
Objective(s): We assessed the impact of body-worn cameras (BWCs) in two countries on perceptions of everyday encounters with police, independent of officer respectfulness and participants' preexisting trust in police. Hypotheses: We expected BWC presence, officer respectfulness, and preexisting trust in police to all significantly improve individuals' perceptions of a police encounter. We also expected interactions indicating that BWC presence and preexisting trust in police reduce the effect of officer respectfulness on perceptions of the encounter. Method: In each of three experimental studies, we measured participants' preexisting trust in police, and then presented participants with a vignette describing an encounter with a police officer in which officer respectfulness (respectful, disrespectful) and the presence/disclosure of a BWC (absent, present and disclosed by officer, present but undisclosed by officer) were independently manipulated. In Studies 1 (N = 422, M age = 29 years, 73% women, 68% Australian) and 2 (N = 210, M age = 19 years, 64% women, 59% Hispanic) in Australia and the United States, respectively, participants assumed the role of the driver in a traffic stop as they read the vignette. In study 3 (N = 504, M age = 29 years, 72% women, 34% English), participants in Australia assumed the role of a citizen interacting with a police officer enforcing COVID-related restrictions. Participants then recorded their perceptions of procedural justice of and satisfaction with the encounter, legitimacy of the police, and willingness to co-operate with police. Results: Across three studies and two countries, we found no support for the notion that BWC presence influenced people's perceptions of police-citizen interactions independent of officer respectfulness and preexisting trust. Conclusion:The effect of BWC presence, established in prior research, might operate via its effect on offi-
Psychological research and theory are needed to understand how laws and public policies contribute to racial disparities affecting children involved in the legal system. This chapter profiles an actual case to illustrate the complex interplay of myriad problems faced by children of color, such as early poverty, child abuse, failures in public education, and racism institutionalized in the policies and laws meant to protect children. The chapter also previews the issues presented in this book, which address the intersection of race and ethnicity involved in child victimization (sex trafficking, corporal punishment, disclosure of abuse); dependency court decisions and adoptions; juvenile and criminal justice systems (parental incarceration, the school-to-prison pipeline, police–youth interactions, perceptions of victims and offenders); and immigration law and policy. Understanding the intersecting implications of psychology, public policy, and law is necessary to end the challenges facing racial minority youth in America today, ensuring equitable treatment for children of color.
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