Understanding and Reducing Biases in Jury Decision Making

这项研究解决了刑事审判中的种族和民族偏见问题。对实际案件的定罪和量刑的审查，以及审判模拟实验的结果，提供了歧视少数民族的证据。全国民意调查和媒体报道显示，偏见在美国仍然普遍存在。但研究几乎没有提供偏见在法庭上如何运作的见解，也没有发现增加或减少歧视的关键因素。通过一系列涉及审判模拟的实验，该项目寻求更好的理论理解被告的种族/民族如何以及何时影响陪审团的决定。它还旨在确定减少法庭偏见的干预措施，从而为法律界提供政策和实践建议。在一个寻求人人享有平等正义的多元化社会中，这些都是重要的事业。将进行八次审判模拟实验，其中黑人，西班牙裔和白人陪审员资格的公民担任模拟陪审员。他们将在审查被告是其种族/民族群体（“内群体”被告）或其他群体之一（“外群体”被告）的审判后提供判决偏好和其他印象。在一些实验中，模拟陪审员也会进行审议。社会心理学理论指导了研究，并为整合社会学、刑事司法、犯罪学和心理学的各种研究成果提供了一个框架。根据社会心理学理论，对社会身份、文化世界观或安全的威胁感应该会增加歧视，表现为对外群体被告更大的罪恶感和定罪。偏见被理解为存在于无意识或隐含的层面上，即使在许多有意识地拒绝偏见的人中也是如此。为了评估这些因素的影响，一些实验考察了当参与者陪审员通过审判前遇到的信息经历这些威胁时，歧视是否会增加。其他实验侧重于减少歧视的方法，包括法官关于防止偏见和审议机会的指示。调查结果将为刑事司法系统的决策提供信息。

This research addresses questions about racial and ethnic prejudice in criminal trials. Reviews of convictions and sentencing in actual cases, and findings from trial simulation experiments, provide evidence of discrimination against minorities. National polls and media stories reveal that prejudice remains prevalent in America. But research has provided little insight into how prejudice operates in the courtroom and has not identified critical factors that increase or decrease discrimination. Through a series of experiments involving trial simulations, the project seeks better theoretical understanding of how and when a defendant's race/ethnicity influences jury decisions. It also aims to identify interventions that lessen courtroom bias, thereby providing policy and practice suggestions to the legal community. These are important undertakings in a diverse society that seeks equal justice for all. Eight trial simulation experiments will be conducted in which Black, Hispanic, and White jury-eligible citizens serve as mock-jurors. They will provide verdict preferences and other impressions after reviewing a trial in which the defendant is a member of either their racial/ethnic group (an "ingroup" defendant) or one of the other groups (an "outgroup" defendant). In some experiments, mock-jurors will also deliberate. Social-psychological theory guides the research and offers a framework for integrating diverse findings from sociology, criminal justice, criminology, and psychology. Based on social-psychological theory, a sense of threat -- to social identity, cultural worldview, or security -- should increase discrimination in the form of greater perceived guilt and convictions of outgroup defendants. Prejudice is understood to exist at an unconscious or implicit level, even among many who consciously reject prejudice. To assess the impact of these factors, some experiments examine whether discrimination increases when participant-jurors experience these threats through information encountered prior to the trial. Additional experiments focus on ways to reduce discrimination, including judges' instructions to guard against prejudice and the opportunity to deliberate. Results will inform decision making in the criminal justice system.