Profiling Jury Bias in Rape Trials: Examining the link between Juror Characteristics and Trial Decisions

StatusPost-Print
Simple item page
dc.abstract.enSince the onset of the Chicago jury project in the 1950s, social scientists have utilised varied methodologies to better understand the fairness and functionality of jury trials. One common approach involves investigating the relationship between a juror's psychosocial make-up (traits, attitudes, and experiences) and their judgements at trial. An established literature has since amassed, which indicates that juror attitudes, more so than isolated personality features or demographics, appear most important in influencing verdict decision-making. This attitudinal bias is particularly prominent within rape trials, where deep-rooted culturally embedded stereotypes (known as rape myths) exist. This chapter reports on the findings from two experimental studies conducted in an English trial context that scrutinised the influence of rape attitudes and jurors’ sexual victimisation experiences and gender upon their subsequent verdict decisions. Both studies used the same rape allegation and case materials within a mock trial paradigm. However, the methodologies differed in their realism; study one adopted a videotaped mock trial, while study two utilised a highly realistic live trial re-enactment design. The findings from both studies are discussed considering the impact that pre-trial rape attitudes, victimisation experiences, and gender can have upon rape trial verdict outcomes and crucially, what solutions may be effective.
dc.affiliationWydział Psychologii we Wrocławiu
dc.affiliationInstytut Psychologii
dc.contributor.authorWillmott, Dominic
dc.contributor.authorBoduszek, Daniel
dc.contributor.authorBooth, Nigel
dc.contributor.editorLeahy, Susan
dc.contributor.editorDowds, Eithne
dc.contributor.editorWeare, Siobhan
dc.date.access2025-11-22
dc.date.accessioned2026-10-07T10:32:10Z
dc.date.available2026-10-07T10:32:10Z
dc.date.created2025-11-21
dc.date.issued2026-08-18
dc.description.accesstimebefore_publication
dc.description.physical127-144
dc.description.sdgQualityEducation
dc.description.sdgGoodHealthAndWellBeing
dc.description.sdgGenderEquality
dc.description.sdgReducedInequalities
dc.description.sdgPeaceJusticeAndStrongInstitutions
dc.description.versionfinal_author
dc.identifier.doi10.4324/9781003613015-10
dc.identifier.isbn9781003613015
dc.identifier.urihttps://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/2590
dc.languageen
dc.pbn.affiliationpsychologia
dc.publisher.ministerialRoutledge
dc.relation.bookResearching Rape Trials. Methods, Ethics and Empirical Perspectives
dc.relation.pages266
dc.rightsCC-BY-NC-ND
dc.rights.questionYes_rights
dc.share.monoOTHER
dc.subject.enJury decision-making
dc.subject.enjuror bias
dc.subject.enrape trials
dc.subject.enrape myths
dc.subject.ensexual victimisation
dc.swps.sciencecloudsend
dc.titleProfiling Jury Bias in Rape Trials: Examining the link between Juror Characteristics and Trial Decisions
dc.title.journalResearching Rape Trials
dc.typeMonographyChapter
dspace.entity.typeBook