1. How Newsworthy is this Incident? What should the Consequences be?
Blurred Lines: The Influence of Social Status on Public Perceptions of Criminal Incidents Satia A. Marotta and Samuel R. Sommers
Tufts University
Background
Media coverage of legal proceedings that appear to favor offenders with high social status has led to concerns about the fairness of the justice system. Further, the public has increasingly been able to intervene in potentially criminal incidents via online petitions and crowd-sourcing legal aid; however, little is known about the circumstances that are most likely to elicit public intervention.
Past research suggests:
Social status is a measure of how positively one is viewed by their ingroup and is often indicated by the amount of influence, education, and resources an individual has within that group (Pettit, Yong, & Spataro, 2010).
The social status of a victim may influence how law enforcement officials view and investigate incidents in which they are involved (Almodovar, 2002).
Being a member of a stigmatized group may influence legal outcomes (Franklin, 2010; Kautt & Spohn, 2002).
Research Question
How does the social status of victims and suspects influence perceptions of criminality, severity, and newsworthiness?
Who is Responsible?
How Newsworthy is this Incident?
The extent to which participants believed the incident was newsworthy. Higher numbers indicate increased newsworthiness.
Study 1. No statistically significant differences between conditions (p’s > 0.3).
Study 2. Statistically significant main effect in that incidents in which the Suspect was of High Social Status were perceived as more newsworthy, F(1,159) = 4.41, p = 0.04.
Study 3. Statistically significant main effect in that incidents in which the victim was of Low Social Status were perceived as more newsworthy, F(1,296) = 7.94, p < 0.01.
Statistically significant main effect in that incidents in which the Suspect was of High Social Status were perceived as more newsworthy, F(1,296) = 5.38, p = 0.02.
The extent to which participants believed the suspect was responsible for the incident. Higher numbers indicate the suspect is more responsible than the victim.
Studies 1 & 2. No statistically significant differences between conditions (p’s > 0.2).
Study 3. Marginal interaction effect in that in the Low Status Victim condition the status of the Suspect did not affect responsibility judgments, while in the High Status Victim condition, High Status Suspects were viewed as more responsible than Low Status Suspects. F(1,297) = 3.30, p = 0.07.
Method
Study Design
2(Victim’s Social Status :High or Low) x 2(Suspect’s Social Status: High or Low)
Procedure:
What should the Consequences be?
Participant Demographics
Study 1
Online Sample (N=299)
75% White
53% Women
Mean Age: 37.4 years
Study 2
Undergraduates(N=163)
60% White
73% Women
Mean Age: 18.9 years
Study 3
Online Sample(N=301)
76% White
64% Women
Mean Age: 37.8 years
Procedure
Read Article
Ambiguous incident in which a sexual assault likely occurred
Social status of victim and suspect is manipulated
Make Judgements
Responsibility
Consequences
Newsworthiness
Demographics
Discussion
Findings
In general, participants were able to objectively determine who was responsible for an incident
Participants were inconsistently influenced by the social status of the victim and suspect in an incident when evaluating what consequences were appropriate
How newsworthy an incident was perceived to be was influenced significantly by the social status of the victim and suspect
Limitations
Results were inconsistent across studies; further research is needed to disambiguate findings
Focused on a single type of potentially criminal incident; results might be other crimes
Focused on the public; future research could investigate responses of law enforcement officials
Implications
The social status of parties involved in a potentially criminal incident may influence perceptions
The public’s judgments regarding which incidents deserve attention and action may be influenced by irrelevant aspects of the incident
Future Directions
If the incident was a homicide, would social status have a similar affect on perceptions?
Would an archival analysis reveal that petitions in which the social status of the victim and suspect were known suggest similar trends?
The extent to which participants believed the suspect should be arrested. Higher numbers indicate the increased agreement with pursuing an arrest.
Studies 1 & 2. No statistically significant differences between conditions (p’s > 0.3).
Study 3. Marginal main effect in that support for an arrest was higher in the Low Status Victim condition than in the High Status Victim condition F(1,296)=3.45, p = Marginal main effect in that support for an arrest was higher in the High Status Suspect condition than in the Low Status Suspect condition F(1,296)=3.08, p = 0.08.
References
Almodovar, N.J. (2002). For their own good: The results of the prostitution laws as enforced by cops, politicians, and judges. In W. McElroy (Ed.), Liberty for Women (pp.71-87). Chicago: The Independent Institute.
Franklin, T. W. (2010). The intersection of defendants’ race, gender, and age in prosecutorial decision making. Journal of Criminal Justice 38,
Kautt, P., & Spohn, C. (2002). Crack-ing down on Black drug offenders? Testing for interactions among offenders’ race, drug type, and sentencing strategy in federal drug sentences. Justice Quarterly, 19(1), 1-35.
Pettit, N.C., Yong, K., & Spataro, S.E. (2010). Holding your place: Reactions to the prospect of status gains and losses. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46,