Psychology
Criminal
Bradbury and Willaims
Aim of the study
• To see whether racial composition of a jury, and the role of the defendents, has an
effect on decision-making
Procedure of the study
• Used secondary data from different study of juries
• This earlier study in 2002 analysed trials in 4 US states.
• Only done on black defendents
• IV - race of jury, measured in terms of % of white, black and Hispanic jurors
• DV - whether or not trial led to conviction
Results of the study
• Juries of a higher % of white jurors were more likely to convict black defendents
• Juries of higher % of black jurors were less likely to convict black defendents
Conclusions of the study
• Racial composition of a jury has significant effect on likelihood of conviction
• Black defendents more likely to be convicted by a mostly white/Hispanic jury than a
black jury
Strengths of the study
• High external validity - data from real juries analysed. Researchers used secondary
data from real juries trials. Avoided demand characteristics
Weaknesses of the study
• - Low generalisability - all defendents were black, may not represent the experience
of defendents from other racial groups
• - Low validity - other characteristics aside from race were not controlled. Unlikely
that jurors based their judgements on race alone
, Cognitive/ethical interviews
Describe cognitive interviews
• The aim is to help witness produce more accurate recall of a crime scene. Includes 4
techniques:
• Report everything
• Reinstate the context
• Reverse the order
• Change perspective
Describe ethical interviews
• Method of interviewing that acknowledges that suspects are more likely to
cooperate with police if rapport is established and treated respectfully.
• Used for more sensitive crimes - rape, murder
• Aims to teach police to keep a more open mind and behave less aggressively
towards suspects
Describe PEACE model
• Based on the idea that suspects are more likely to cooperate with police and give
true confessions if they feel releaxed. Includes:
• Preparation and planning
• Engage and explain
• Account
• Closure
• Evaluate
Strengths of CI/EI interviews
• Geiselman et al - showed ppts violent film then asked to recall using traditional
questions vs CI. Found higher accuracy when using CI
• More ethical procedure for using interviews and better justice system
• Christianson and Holmberg - Found that interviews marked by respect and positive
attitude were most linked with confessions
Weaknesses of CI/EI
• Kohnken - CI produces lots of inaccuracies, but more information
• Gudjonsson - argues that some EI techniques are naive.
Criminal
Bradbury and Willaims
Aim of the study
• To see whether racial composition of a jury, and the role of the defendents, has an
effect on decision-making
Procedure of the study
• Used secondary data from different study of juries
• This earlier study in 2002 analysed trials in 4 US states.
• Only done on black defendents
• IV - race of jury, measured in terms of % of white, black and Hispanic jurors
• DV - whether or not trial led to conviction
Results of the study
• Juries of a higher % of white jurors were more likely to convict black defendents
• Juries of higher % of black jurors were less likely to convict black defendents
Conclusions of the study
• Racial composition of a jury has significant effect on likelihood of conviction
• Black defendents more likely to be convicted by a mostly white/Hispanic jury than a
black jury
Strengths of the study
• High external validity - data from real juries analysed. Researchers used secondary
data from real juries trials. Avoided demand characteristics
Weaknesses of the study
• - Low generalisability - all defendents were black, may not represent the experience
of defendents from other racial groups
• - Low validity - other characteristics aside from race were not controlled. Unlikely
that jurors based their judgements on race alone
, Cognitive/ethical interviews
Describe cognitive interviews
• The aim is to help witness produce more accurate recall of a crime scene. Includes 4
techniques:
• Report everything
• Reinstate the context
• Reverse the order
• Change perspective
Describe ethical interviews
• Method of interviewing that acknowledges that suspects are more likely to
cooperate with police if rapport is established and treated respectfully.
• Used for more sensitive crimes - rape, murder
• Aims to teach police to keep a more open mind and behave less aggressively
towards suspects
Describe PEACE model
• Based on the idea that suspects are more likely to cooperate with police and give
true confessions if they feel releaxed. Includes:
• Preparation and planning
• Engage and explain
• Account
• Closure
• Evaluate
Strengths of CI/EI interviews
• Geiselman et al - showed ppts violent film then asked to recall using traditional
questions vs CI. Found higher accuracy when using CI
• More ethical procedure for using interviews and better justice system
• Christianson and Holmberg - Found that interviews marked by respect and positive
attitude were most linked with confessions
Weaknesses of CI/EI
• Kohnken - CI produces lots of inaccuracies, but more information
• Gudjonsson - argues that some EI techniques are naive.
