Work

Intersection of race and socio-economic status on criminal judgments: high status reduces blame for Black juveniles but increases blame for White juveniles

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Introduction Both Black juveniles and low-socioeconomic status (SES) juveniles are disproportionately represented in the U.S. legal system. Yet minimal experimental work has teased apart how a juvenile's race and SES interact when affecting judgments about guilt, blame, and punishment. Methods Two vignette experiments (N= 1074) varied a juvenile defendant's race (Black or White) and SES (low or high) in two types of crimes (stereotypically Black or stereotypically White). Results Race and SES interacted: across crime type, high-SES White juveniles were assigned more guilt and blame whereas high-SES Black juveniles were assigned less guilt and blame than their low-SES counterparts. Low-SES Black juveniles were also judged relatively harshly when their guilt was certain or when excluding participants who guessed the study was about race or SES. Moreover, stereotype-related judgments such as likelihood of recidivism and character mediated these effects. Discussion These surprising results highlight the need to investigate the intersection between race and SES. Potential explanations including aversive racism, social ecology, and changing stereotypes are considered.

Source: Frontiers in Social Psychology

DOI: 10.3389/frsps.2024.1456591

Authors: Elizabeth A. Gilbert, Alexander D. Guinn, N. Dickon Reppucci

Institution: University of Virginia

Language: English

Topic: Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,125