After innocence: Perceptions of individuals who have been wrongfully convicted

Abstract

Purpose Although it is easy to assume that individuals who have been wrongfully convicted are stigmatized, research has not systematically examined this issue. This research compares perceptions of individuals who have been wrongfully convicted to perceptions of offenders to investigate the stigma that wrongfully convicted persons report. Method Participants were randomly assigned to complete surveys regarding their attitudes, stereotypes, and discrimination tendencies towards one of three different groups: individuals who were wrongfully convicted of a crime, actual offenders, or people in general (control). Results Results suggested contemptuous prejudice towards offenders and wrongfully convicted persons. In comparison to the control group, individuals who had been wrongfully convicted were stereotyped more negatively, elicited more negative emotions, and were held at a greater social distance. Although participants did report greater pity for wrongfully convicted persons than others, this pity did not translate into greater assistance or support. Conclusions Perceptions of wrongfully convicted persons appear similar to negative, stigmatized views of offenders. Individuals faced stigma and discrimination even after exoneration.

Stigma and wrongful conviction: all exonerees are not perceived equal

“…In addition, Clow and Leach (2013) found that participants rated people who had been wrongly convicted as less friendly, respected, warm, and lazy than controls. Similarly, Thompson et al (2012) found that participants rated an exoneree as less competitive, confident, intelligent, warm, and good-natured than a transfer student.…”

“…Specifically, we predicted that participants would be more likely to perceive Daniel Cooper as guilty (Hypothesis 1), to rate him lower in both competence and warmth (Hypothesis 2), to express greater feelings of anger (Hypothesis 3), to express less feelings of pity (Hypothesis 4), and to report less willingness to offer government assistance (Hypothesis 5) in the false confession condition than in the mistaken eyewitness or jailhouse snitch conditions. Finally, based on previous stigma and wrongful conviction research (Clow & Leach, 2013;Thompson et al, 2012), we expected participants to rate Daniel Cooper higher in competence and warmth in the control condition than in each of the wrongful conviction conditions (Hypothesis 6).…”

“…Dependent measures from Clow and Leach (2013) were used but modified to pertain to 'Daniel Cooper' rather than the broad groups of people investigated in previous research. Participants in the control condition completed the same dependent measures about 'Daniel Cooper (an average person).'…”

“…The assistance items assessed participants' willingness to endorse particular forms of government assistance. The same forced-choice (yes or no) items from Clow and Leach (2013) were used. Participants were asked to indicate whether they thought that Daniel Cooper was entitled to different forms of government assistance (i.e., career counseling, job training, psychological counseling, monthly living expenses, and subsidized housing).…”

Stigma against false confessors impacts post‐exoneration financial compensation

“…A nascent body of research suggests that, despite their innocence, exonerees face stigma similar that of to actual offenders. Clow and Leach () found that students rated wrongfully convicted individuals as less warm, less friendly, and less respected than the average person and desired greater social distance from them. Moreover, they rated exonerees and actual offenders as equally trustworthy, competent, aggressive, and deserving of government assistance (e.g., job training, subsidized housing).…”