SAFETYLIT WEEKLY UPDATE

We compile citations and summaries of about 400 new articles every week.
RSS Feed

HELP: Tutorials | FAQ
CONTACT US: Contact info

Search Results

Journal Article

Citation

Huff J, Alvarez MJ, Miller MK. Appl. Psychol. Crim. Justice 2018; 14(2): 87-101.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, San Houston State University, College of Criminal Justice)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Recent police shootings of African Americans have led citizens to question police officers' use of force. Thus, it is important to determine whether mock jurors can distinguish between justifiable and unjustifiable police shootings--and whether their judgements depend on victim race. Media attention could lead jurors to be more punitive in cases in which an officer shoots an African American (compared to Caucasian) victim. A punitive verdict would reflect society's opposition to such shootings, as suggested by the bandwagon effect. In a 2 (Shooting: Justified/Unjustified) x 2 (Victim's race: African American/Caucasian) experiment, mock jurors read a trial summary involving a fatal police shooting and indicated verdicts. Unjustifiable shootings resulted in less positive perceptions of the officer and perceptions that the shooting was less justified. When the victim was African American, participants had more positive perceptions of the victim, were more certain in a guilty verdict, and perceived the shooting as less justified. The interaction indicated that victim race affected verdicts, but only when the shooting was unjustified.

RESULTS suggest there is bias against officers who unjustifiably shoot African Americans, supporting the bandwagon effect. Implications for the role of media effects, psychology, and the legal system are discussed.

© Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice, 2018


Language: en

NEW SEARCH


All SafetyLit records are available for automatic download to Zotero & Mendeley
Print