A Criminal Schema: The Role of Chronicity, Race, and Socioeconomic Status in Law Enforcement Officials' Perceptions of Others
Abstract
This study investigated the extent to which law enforcement (LE) of officials' perceptions of criminality are biased by the chronic nature of, and the racial and SES features of, their cognitive schemas of the typical criminal. Theory suggests that in general, LE officials would share a unique cognitive schema based on their specialized experiences and that the habitual use of this schema might result in an over-perception of criminality. Moreover, due to the finding that there is a disproportionate number of blacks and people of lower SES who are arrested, LE officials might perceive greater criminality in the actions of blacks and people of lower SES. One-hundred twenty undergraduate psychology students and 121 LE officers participated in this study. Part I of this study hypothesized that a chronic criminal schema used by LE would result in LE subjects perceiving criminality in ambiguous situations. Contrary to the hypothesis, laypersons were more likely to view an ambiguous situation as criminal than were LE subjects. Part II of this study hypothesized that when exposed to the actions of a black and/or lower SES criminal suspect, LE subjects would perceive more guilt, perceive more deceptiveness, place less value on exculpatory information, and place more value on incriminating information. The results supported this second hypothesis with regard to race, but not SES.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA283170
Entities
People
- C. L. Ruby
- John C. Brigham
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology