The effect of victim race on jurors’ perceptions of lethal use of force

Ewanation, Logan

doi:10.22215/etd/2021-14809

Cited by 1 publication

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References 252 publications

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“…Research also suggests Indigenous victims experience unfair judgements in the criminal justice system. Ewanation (2021) conducted two mock-juror studies to examine if victim race influenced juror judgements in a case involving a police officer using lethal use of force.…”

Section: Race and Juror Decision-makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indigenous Victims with Mental Illness: The Influence of Stereotypes and Stigma on Mock-Juror Perceptions

Stone

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This study examined jurors' perceptions of victim race and mental illness as a function of defendant race in a mock-juror decision-making context. Victim race (Indigenous vs. White) and Mental Illness (substance abuse vs. schizophrenia vs. no mental illness) along with officer's race (Indigenous vs. White) were manipulated in a mock-trial transcript. Participants (N = 320) were recruited from psychology courses. Contrary to the hypotheses, Indigenous victims and defendants were perceived more positively than White victims or defendants. In line with the hypotheses, victims with substance use disorder and schizophrenia were perceived as less credible than victims with no mental illness, that was exacerbated by Negative Beliefs Toward Mental Illness. Defendants were less likely to be convicted when the victim was Indigenous with a mental illness. This research contributes to the understanding of juror bias against marginalized communities and can be used to inform policies in the Criminal Justice System towards promoting more just practices. Indigenous Victims with Mental Illness: The Influence of Stereotypes and Stigma on Mock-Juror PerceptionsOn November 29 th , 1990, the body of Neil Stonechild, a 17-year-old Indigenous boy, was found on the edge of Saskatoon, where he had been exposed to temperatures as low as -28C with only jeans, a light jacket, and one shoe (Stewart, 2019). Since Stonechild had been intoxicated the night before, the jury concluded that Stonechild had drunkenly walked to the outskirts of the city, where he experienced hypothermia, which resulted in his accidental death. However, after a decade and multiple more cases of intoxicated Indigenous Peoples being found dead from hypothermia, what is now known as The Starlight Tours was uncovered (Campbell, 2016). The Starlight Tours represents a time when the police would pick up intoxicated Indigenous Peoples in their police vehicle, and forcibly drop them off in the middle of nowhere to walk home in lethal temperatures. Despite it now being known that two officers had purposely left Stonechild to die, the officers were acquitted of all charges.Community advocates have argued that race and intoxication are the factors that lead to the outcomes in cases involving the Indigenous (Lugosi, 2011;Stewart, 2019). For those who make decisions in the legal system, research suggests that Indigenous people may be prone to stereotypes (Ewanation & Maeder, 2018;Jiwani, 2009;Ly & Crowshoe, 2015) and individuals with mental illness (e.g., substance abuse, schizophrenia) can be prone to experiencing stigma

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Section: Race and Juror Decision-makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indigenous Victims with Mental Illness: The Influence of Stereotypes and Stigma on Mock-Juror Perceptions

Stone

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

The effect of victim race on jurors’ perceptions of lethal use of force

Cited by 1 publication

References 252 publications

Indigenous Victims with Mental Illness: The Influence of Stereotypes and Stigma on Mock-Juror Perceptions

Indigenous Victims with Mental Illness: The Influence of Stereotypes and Stigma on Mock-Juror Perceptions

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