title: The biasing effect of the "sexually violent predator" label on legal decisions.
abstract: Public fear has driven legislation designed to identify and exclude sexual offenders from society, culminating in sexually violent predator (SVP) statutes, in which a sex offender who has served his prison sentence is hospitalized indefinitely if a jury determines that he is likely to reoffend as a result of a mental disorder. Jurors rarely vote not to commit a previously-convicted sex offender as an SVP. This study tests whether the mere label of "sexually violent predator" affects these legal decisions. Venire jurors (n=161) were asked to decide whether an individual who had been incarcerated for 16years should be released on parole. The individual was either labeled as a.) a sexually violent predator or b.) a convicted felon, and all other information was identical between the conditions. Jurors were over twice as likely to deny parole to the SVP compared to the felon, even though they did not consider him any more dangerous or any more likely to reoffend. Demographic variables did not moderate this finding. However, jurors' desire to 'get revenge' and to 'make the offender pay', as measured by Gerber and Jackson's (2013) Just Deserts Scale, did significantly relate to decisions to deny parole. These findings suggest that jurors' decisions in SVP hearings are driven by legally impermissible considerations, and that the mere label of "sexually violent predator" induces bias into the decision making process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology & Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, United States; Department of Criminology, Law & Society, University of California, Irvine, United States. Electronic address: nscurich@uci.edu.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Scurich
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology & Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, United States.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gongola
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Claremont McKenna College, United States.
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Krauss
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003416:Criminal Law / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D003657:Decision Making; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D011639:Public Opinion; D012306:Risk; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology*; D013240:Stereotyping
keywords: Juror decision making; Risk assessment; Sexual offenders; Sexually violent predators