NCJ Number
196643
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 26 Issue: 4 Dated: August 2002 Pages: 455-463
Date Published
August 2002
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study evaluated the structure of the Juror Bias Scale (JBS).
Abstract
The JBS was designed to assess the pre-dispositions of jurors toward guilt or innocence. It was based on the assumption that juror verdicts involve the comparison of two beliefs: (1) probability of commission (PC) and (2) reasonable doubt (RD). One limitation of previous research was that the findings were only tested in college student samples rather than jury-eligible adult samples. The scale’s constructs were re-evaluated to better understand the pretrial biases involved in the juror decision-making process. Previous research examining the factor structure of the JBS has uncovered problems in the scale’s assessment of the constructs of PC and RD. Over a span of 3 years, 617 participants were recruited from various locations around a medium-sized city in the southeastern United States. Participants were 275 men and 342 women aged 18 to 84 years. The 22-item measure was composed of 9 PC items, 8 RD items, and 5 filler items. Items were scored using a 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree) scale. Three trial summaries describing a murder, rape, and armed robbery were used to obtain a sampling of verdict tendencies. Participants, all jury-eligible adults, were asked to complete a questionnaire examining their attitudes toward the criminal justice system. Approximately 55 percent of those approached completed the JBS, and then read two of the three trial summaries, rendering verdicts after each summary. The results indicate that although RD is a tenable and useful construct affecting juror decision-making, PC may be a less relevant pretrial bias. It is suggested that future research emphasize alternative constructs, such as confidence and cynicism in the criminal justice system. 2 tables, 6 footnotes, 26 references