ERIC Number: EJ790657
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 19
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0739-9863
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Effects of Ethnicity, SES, and Crime Status on Juror Decision Making: A Cross-Cultural Examination of European American and Mexican American Mock Jurors
Esqueda, Cynthia Willis; Espinoza, Russ K. E.; Culhane, Scott E.
Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, v30 n2 p181-199 2008
In two studies, a defendant's ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), and crime status were varied for effects on verdict decisions, sentencing recommendations, culpability assignments, and trait assessments. In Study 1, European Americans (N = 221) provided a low SES Mexican American defendant with more guilt verdicts, a lengthier sentence, and higher culpability ratings, compared to a high SES Mexican American or a European American defendant, regardless of crime status. Higher negative trait ratings occurred for a low SES Mexican American who committed a low status crime. In Study 2, Mexican Americans (N = 136) showed no differences for guilt verdicts, recommended sentence, or culpability assignment. These findings demonstrate that European American bias toward Mexican Americans may operate in all phases of the legal process, and future research should address specific contexts where bias applies. (Contains 4 tables and 3 notes.)
Descriptors: Court Litigation, Ethnicity, Crime, Mexican Americans, Whites, Lawyers, Anxiety, Cross Cultural Studies, Socioeconomic Status, Law Enforcement
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A

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