Cognitive predisposition to prejudice and discrimination on capital juries: Can race be ignored in the jury room

Researchers from various disciplines have sought to explain racial disparities in capital sentencing; however, much is left misunderstood. In efforts to broaden understanding in this area, research from social and cognitive psychology concerning stereotypes and attitude influence were bridged with other empirical findings concerning racial disparities in capital sentencing. The introduction of the psychology of stereotypes and attitude are used to help explain how racial discrimination can operate undetected while producing the sentencing discrepancies. A potential source of bias information concerning criminal justice and race also is offered. Multivariate and logistic regression analysis was estimated using data from the General Social Survey (GSS) to test the hypotheses that crime control beliefs and racially bias views are related and also predict support for capital punishment, which is a discerning characteristic for being on a capital jury. The findings demonstrate that crime control type beliefs and racially biased beliefs are related to capital punishment support, with the resulting inference that the death qualification process promotes discriminatory outcomes in capital sentencing.