Effect of Defendants' Demeanour on Sentencing in the Magistrates' Courts

• NCJ Number: 129929
• Journal: Research Bulletin Issue: 29 Dated: (1990) Pages: 32-36
• Author(s): C Hedderman
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 5 pages
• Corporate Author: Great Britain Home Office
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom
• Note: Summary of a doctoral thesis submitted to the University of Cambridge, Institute of Criminology

Annotation

Information from 100 male and female defendants in an English magistrates' court in 1985 formed the basis of an analysis of whether the defendant's dress and appearance and the way in which they are presented to the court affect sentencing decisions.

Abstract

The analysis also compared the systematic observation of court proceedings with other methods of examining magistrates' decisionmaking. The first sample consisted of 40 men and 10 women chosen randomly and on trial for offenses other than traffic offenses, while the second sample consisted of 33 men and 17 women who pleaded guilty to theft offenses. The observations focused on the defendants' grooming, cleanliness, standard of dress and overall appearance, manner of speaking, and tenseness. Results indicated that some of the sentencing differences resulted from defendants' courtroom behavior and that women may receive more lenient sentences than men because they are more nervous and act more respectfully and deferentially to the magistrate. 14 references