Author ORCID Identifier
Cynthia J. Najdowski: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3624-9188
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2009
Abstract
In adult criminal court, cases involving juveniles can be decided by jurors rather than by family or juvenile court judges. It is, therefore, important to understand adults' perceptions of juvenile defendants and the factors that influence jurors' decisions in criminal cases involving juveniles. This research has value for research psychologists interested in legal decision making and for professionals within the legal system who seek to understand how jurors react to juveniles accused of crimes and how they reach their verdicts in cases involving juveniles. In this chapter, we consider three broad categories of factors that affect perceptions of juveniles: (1) juror individual difference factors, including jurors' gender and stereotypes about juveniles; (2) courtroom and trial factors, including attorneys' attempts to induce jurors' empathy for and stereotypes about juvenile defendants and jury deliberation as a potential moderator of such tactics; and (3) juvenile individual difference factors, including gender, race, history of maltreatment, intellectual disability, and tendency to confess.
Recommended Citation
Stevenson, Margaret C.; Najdowski, Cynthia J.; Bottoms, Bette L.; and Haegerich, Tamara M., "Understanding Adults’ Perceptions of Juvenile Offenders" (2009). Psychology Faculty Scholarship. 58.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/psychology_fac_scholar/58
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Comments
Posted with permission. It does not include the right for others to photocopy or otherwise reproduce this material except for versions made by non-profit organizations for use by the blind or handicapped persons.
This is the Author's Accepted Manuscript. The Version of Record can be found here: Stevenson, M. C., Najdowski, C. J., Bottoms, B. L., & Haegerich, T. M. (2009). Understanding adults’ perceptions of juvenile offenders. In B. L. Bottoms, C. J. Najdowski, & G. S. Goodman (Eds.), Children as victims, witnesses, and offenders: Psychological science and the law (pp. 349-368). Guilford Press.