NCJ Number
82850
Date Published
1982
Length
334 pages
Annotation
This book analyzes the impact of psychological factors on the criminal justice system's decisionmaking process, from the citizen's decision to notify the police to the decision to revoke parole.
Abstract
The theoretical framework, the attribution/exchange model, views decisionmaking as a two-way process in which the decisionmaker forms impressions of the other person and then evaluates the costs and benefits of various responses. This perspective is then applied to victims' and bystanders' decisions to report a crime. Determinants in police decisions to arrest include legal restrictions, the nature of the offense, and the suspect's demeanor. Relationships between the prosecutor's office and other individuals or groups are discussed, followed by analyses of bail, charge, and plea-bargaining decisions. Chapters on the trial phase address jury selection, attorneys' trial strategies, and the way the jury reaches its verdict. An exploration of the sentencing decision covers sentencing patterns in the United States, influences on judges' assessments of defendants' criminality, and input of other parts of the criminal justice system. The discussion of prisons focuses on guards and their interactions with prisoners and administrators. Considerations that affect the parole board's decision to release an offender are described, as are determinants in decisions to revoke parole and society's reactions to ex-offender. The final chapter summarizes the effects of attribution/exchange factors on decisionmaking, assesses the impact of pressures from outside the criminal justice system, and proposes areas for future research. Tables, approximately 500 references, and an index are provided.