The stigma of wrongful conviction differs for White and Black exonerees.

IF 2.4 2区社会学 Q1 LAW

Law and Human Behavior Pub Date : 2023-02-01 DOI:10.1037/lhb0000522

Lakia Faison, Laura Smalarz, Stephanie Madon, Kimberley A Clow

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective: Black people are disproportionately targeted and disadvantaged in the criminal legal system. We tested whether Black exonerees are similarly disadvantaged by the stigma of wrongful conviction.

Hypotheses: In Experiment 1, we predicted that the stigma of wrongful conviction would be greater for Black than White exonerees. After finding the opposite pattern, we conducted two experiments to investigate the psychological underpinnings of this counterintuitive effect-specifically, whether it was driven by attempts to appear unprejudiced and/or beliefs regarding the legal system bias that Black and White exonerees face.

Method: In Experiment 1, we unobtrusively measured non-Black participants' behavioral reactions to an anticipated meeting with a Black or White exoneree or businessman. In Experiment 2, participants completed measures that assessed their motivation to appear unprejudiced and then, in a separate session, evaluated a Black or White exoneree and reported their beliefs about the legal system bias faced by the exoneree. Experiment 3 was a partial replication of Experiment 2. In Experiments 2 and 3, we examined data from both non-Black and Black participants.

Results: Non-Black participants in Experiment 1 stigmatized the White exoneree, d = -0.31, 95% confidence interval (CI) [-0.72, 0.10], but not the Black exoneree, d = 0.44, 95% CI [0.04, 0.83]. Experiments 2 and 3 replicated this finding, showing that the effect was mediated by the belief that Black exonerees faced greater legal system bias than White exonerees (Experiment 2: B = 0.21, SE = 0.06, 95% CI [0.11, 0.33]; Experiment 3: B = 0.35, SE = 0.09, 95% CI [0.19, 0.55]). Our results also suggested that Black individuals react more favorably to Black than White exonerees, potentially because of their beliefs regarding legal system bias.

Conclusions: People may react more favorably to Black than White exonerees because of the belief that Black exonerees face greater injustices within the legal system. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

查看原文本刊更多论文

对白人和黑人无罪的人来说，错误定罪的耻辱是不同的。

目的:黑人在刑事法律体系中不成比例地成为目标并处于不利地位。我们测试了被无罪释放的黑人是否同样因为被错误定罪而处于不利地位。假设:在实验1中，我们预测黑人被误判的耻辱感比白人被误判的耻辱感更大。在发现相反的模式后，我们进行了两个实验来调查这种反直觉效应的心理基础——具体来说，是由于试图表现出无偏见和/或对黑人和白人无罪者所面临的法律制度偏见的信念。方法:在实验1中，我们不引人注目地测量了非黑人参与者对预期会见黑人或白人囚犯或商人的行为反应。在实验2中，参与者完成了评估他们表现出无偏见的动机的测试，然后在一个单独的测试中，评估了一个黑人或白人的无罪犯，并报告了他们对无罪犯所面临的法律制度偏见的看法。试验3是试验2的部分重复。在实验2和3中，我们检查了非黑人和黑人参与者的数据。结果:实验1中非黑人被试对白人被试有污名化倾向，d = -0.31, 95%可信区间(CI)[-0.72, 0.10]，但对黑人被试没有污名化倾向，d = 0.44, 95% CI[0.04, 0.83]。实验2和3重复了这一发现，表明黑人无罪犯比白人无罪犯面临更大的法律制度偏见(实验2:B = 0.21, SE = 0.06, 95% CI [0.11, 0.33];实验3:B = 0.35, SE = 0.09, 95% CI[0.19, 0.55])。我们的研究结果还表明，黑人比白人对黑人的反应更友好，这可能是因为他们认为法律制度存在偏见。结论:人们对黑人的反应可能比白人更友好，因为他们相信黑人在法律体系中面临更大的不公正。(PsycInfo数据库记录(c) 2023 APA，版权所有)。

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来源期刊

Law and Human Behavior Multiple-

CiteScore

4.50

自引率

8.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Law and Human Behavior, the official journal of the American Psychology-Law Society/Division 41 of the American Psychological Association, is a multidisciplinary forum for the publication of articles and discussions of issues arising out of the relationships between human behavior and the law, our legal system, and the legal process. This journal publishes original research, reviews of past research, and theoretical studies from professionals in criminal justice, law, psychology, sociology, psychiatry, political science, education, communication, and other areas germane to the field.