Author ORCID Identifier
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-23-2009
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.873
Abstract
Understanding jurors’ perceptions of juvenile defendants has become increasingly important as more and more juvenile cases are being tried in adult criminal court rather than family or juvenile court. Intellectual disability and child maltreatment are overrepresented among juvenile delinquents, and juveniles (particularly disabled juveniles) are at heightened risk for falsely confessing to crimes. In two mock trial experiments, we examined the effects of disability, abuse history, and confession evidence on jurors’ perceptions of a juvenile defendant across several different crime scenarios. Abused juveniles were treated more leniently than nonabused juveniles only when the juvenile’s crime was motivated by self-defense against the abuser. Jurors used disability as a mitigating factor, making more lenient judgments for a disabled than a nondisabled juvenile. Jurors also completely discounted a coerced confession for a disabled juvenile, but not for a nondisabled juvenile. In fact, compared to when it was portrayed as voluntary, jurors generally discounted a juvenile’s coerced confession. Implications for public policy and directions for future research are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Najdowski, Cynthia J.; Bottoms, Bette L.; and Vargas, Maria C., "Jurors’ Perceptions of Juvenile Defendants: The Influence of Intellectual Disability, Abuse History, and Confession Evidence" (2009). Psychology Faculty Scholarship. 53.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/psychology_fac_scholar/53
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Courts Commons, Criminal Law Commons, Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons, Disability Law Commons, Family Law Commons, Juvenile Law Commons, Law and Psychology Commons, Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons, Social Psychology Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons
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Comments
"This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Najdowski, C. J., Bottoms, B. L., & Vargas, M. C. (2009). Jurors’ perceptions of juvenile defendants: The influence of intellectual disability, abuse history, and confession evidence. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 27(3), 401-430., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.873. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.