Graduation Year
2023
Date of Submission
12-2022
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Psychology
Second Department
Legal Studies
Reader 1
Piercarlo Valdesolo
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2022 Kara Cato
Abstract
Past psychological research has indicated that pretrial publicity has a significant impact on jury decision-making (Shniderman, 2013). This current review aims to expand on past research by investigating the social influence of pretrial publicity on juror biases. The effects of pretrial publicity on juror biases are examined through three mechanisms of social influence: story model, predecisional distortion, and conformity prejudice. This research inspects the relationship between media and the law by reviewing the pervasiveness of the media's depiction of criminal cases, the changing nature of media, and the biasing effects of media exposure. In addition, it explores the different forms of pretrial publicity, including negative (anti-defendant) and positive (pro-defendant) pretrial publicity, that impact juror biases and potentially influence verdict decisions. This research identifies the psychological reasoning behind the social influences of pretrial publicity in hopes of providing a basis for future research to address and prevent these prejudicial effects.
Recommended Citation
Cato, Kara, "Pressing the Verdict: The Social Influence of Pretrial Publicity on Juror Biases" (2023). CMC Senior Theses. 3214.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3214
Included in
Criminal Law Commons, First Amendment Commons, Law and Psychology Commons, Social Psychology Commons
