Category: Bias

Introduction

In rapid changing fields such as law enforcement, it is important for people to recognize their biases and prejudice. By understanding their own bias and prejudice, as well as, seeing how bias and prejudice affects people, police officers can change how their actions are conducted. In order to do this, an understanding of what bias and prejudice is, how it has evolved, and its impact must be shown. Once this is completed, police actions can be better guided resulting in better interactions with the world.

What Is Bias?

To begin understanding bias, one must know what bias entails and its origins. Bias as defined by the sixth edition of the Multicultural Law Enforcement; Strategies for Peacekeeping in a Diverse Society textbook is “a preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”(Shusta) Now that bias has been defined it’s important to see its history of it. Similar to water, trees, stars, ect… bias has been around since the dawn of time. A fun fact about bias: while it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment bias was observed, we can trace the origin of the word back to the 1520s. An interesting fact about bias is that contrary to belief humans are not the only species that experience it. This can be seen in a study conducted by Neha Mahajan and a group of psychologist which Daisy Grewl wrote about in an article for Scientific American. Grewl briefly writes about Mahajan and Co.’s discovery on Cayo Santigo, an island close to Puerto Rico. Grewl’s article highlights the experiment that was conducted on Rhesus Monkeys regarding groups and outsiders. This was done using the Implicit Association Test (IAT). The IAT measures unconscious bias by determining how quickly a word is associated with specific groups and reveals implicit bias.

Types Of Bias

Before discussing the effects of bias, it’s crucial to know that there are many types of bias. While most are directed at oneself or (i.g. Confirmation bias) the main ones dealt within law enforcement are implicit and explicit bias. Implicit bias according to the American Psychological Association (APA) is “attitudes or stereotypes that can influence our beliefs, actions, and decisions, even though we’re not consciously aware of them and don’t express those beliefs verbally to ourselves or others.” (Weir) An example of this in law enforcement would be, an officer disliking a certain minority group over another and pursuing justice more often with one group than the other over the course of a fiscal year. If implicit bias is what someone is unaware of than what’s explicit bias? Explicit bias as defined by the National Center for Cultural Competence (NCCC) is “when someone knows about their feelings and attitudes towards someone or a group of people”. (Two) An example of this in law enforcement would be, an officer targeting Hispanics who commit crimes because they don’t think Hispanics should be in the U.S because they’re criminals.

Effects & Solutions Of Bias

Bias has been briefly defined but no effects or solutions were given. That is the focus of the paragraph, how does bias affect people and how can people work to stop it? One experiment that showcased the issue of bias in police officers was Joshua Correll’s Police Officer’s Dilemma. In this people played a first player shooter game, in the game, there were unarmed white and black men. It was shown that when police officers played it took them less time to shoot the black men. Activities like these can be used to monitor which officers are more likely to shoot an unarmed person instead of an armed person, especially if they are different races. Another potential option for reducing bias is when a suspect is arrested use a different officer for the interrogation and booking process. The article written by Weir highlighted this as a way to stop officers from acting on biases that are present. Weir talked to a law and psychology professor by the name of Tom Tyler. In their conversation, Tyler hinted that having set protocol and a checklist regarding various situations would hold all officers to the same standard when conducting things such as traffic stops. During their talk, Tyler also hinted at the possibility of changing a department’s hiring practices to decrease racial disparity. Another way to reduce racial disparity and improving bias control given in the article was by John Dovido. Dovido reminded Weir that the act of community police would help rebuild the community’s trust in law enforcement. By conducting community policing practices you’d better understand groups of people who may have different interests or ideas than you. While it’s difficult to completely remove bias Dovido stated to Weir that if psychologists work to understand the police officer’s job difficulties and requirements than better more accurate training on bias could occur. (Weir) A solution for a whole department would be to experience the ADL’s bias training. The ADL which is a non-governmental organization train not only law enforcement but all forms of officials, including veterans. Some key points that make this training desirable is that they can focus on the needs of an individual department, focus on law enforcement’s role in community policing, and the perception of an individual and the community. Another law enforcement tool that can be used is the Department Of Justice’s (DOP) peacemaker the Community Relations Services (CRS). CRS has a bias toolkit that can be found online which provides five ways to reduce bias. The first idea is stereotype replacement which is just taking a stereotype and giving it a non-stereotypical response. This is accomplished by addressing a stereotype, labeling when it occurs, and thinking about alternatives. The second idea is counter-stereotypic imaging; which is creating opposite images of stereotypes. The final three are pretty similar and work off one another. Individuation, Perspective Taking, and Increasing Opportunities. These ideas focus on treating the many as one and getting together with the one or the many more frequently. (Understanding) By using these tools and experiments law enforcement can better learn how to stop the practice of bias from affecting their job.

What Is Prejudice?

When trying to understand prejudice the same starting point as bias is needed. Prejudice as defined by the sixth edition of the Multicultural Law Enforcement; Strategies for Peacekeeping in a Diverse Society textbook is “A judgment or opinion formed before facts are known, usually involving a negative or unfavorable thoughts about groups of people.” (Shusta) Given the definition, how prejudice occurs and solutions can now be examined.

What Causes Prejudice To Occur

The main focus of the following paragraph is to show the effects of and possible solutions to prejudice. Prejudice can be harmful to all involved and can cause tension. The tension created is related to a US Vs. Them mentality. Dovido says that this mentality can be detrimental to people’s views because it can make someone feel like they’ve been dehumanized. (Weir) Some common causes for prejudice stated by Daisy are blows to self-esteem and being reminded of our morality. Daisy then went on to talk about how psychologist Cathrine Cottrell and Steven Neuburg believe that prejudice evolved from group living. This is due to group living making us wary of people outside of our group. This was proven to be true by the rhesus monkey experiment conducted by Mahajan and Co. The reason for this is because they could spread illness, steal natural resources, and cause bodily harm to others. In order to protect ourselves from this, the process of quickly identifying those who don’t belong in our group formed. By conducting this process it then becomes an unconscious reaction. This means that something occurs without the thought or realization of it occurring.

Effects & Solutions To Prejudice

One way to change this process and overall prejudice is putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. By stopping and thinking about how someone else feels or thinks the automatic distancing and prejudice will start to diminish. When prejudice diminishes, the way people view and treat each other changes. An interesting supporting point to this claim is made in an article on the American Psychological Association (APA) website. Tori DeAngelis wrote an article on New Ways To Combat Prejudice. In her article, DeAngelis says that if people believe prejudice can change it is more likely to compared to when they don’t believe. (DeAngelis) DeAngelis’s article could prove useful if paired with an article written by Lucie Coulliard who writes for the Daily Collegian. Couillard interviewed people on the impacts prejudice has on society. In her article, Coulliard quotes Naren Holman who compares the effects of prejudice to soil erosion. Holam told Couillard that one thing barely has an impact but when multiple things occur over a period of time it changes thing Holam then discusses with Couillard how people that experience prejudice are viewed as outsiders and not as equals. Couillard then quotes a conversation with John Sanchez. Sanchez told Couillard how prejudice is a gateway to racism, homophobia, and inferiority. The next conversation Couillard uses for her article is with Aron Maiolo. Maiolo explains that when faced with prejudice someone loses their chance to share who they are and their story isn’t heard. The final conversation Couillard brings up in her article is with Sam Richards. Richards says that prejudice doesn’t allow people or societies to learn or grow. (Couillard) All of these effects of prejudice affect police officers because if individuals let prejudice affect their views, then reported incidents may not be completely accurate or can rub off on officers. This is just another example of why training on prejudice is crucial for good policing to occur. Knowing these causes and effects can also allow officers to better inform and respond to victims, witnesses, and the public.

Conclusion

When bias and prejudice are realized by law enforcement, the way citizens and criminals are treated can be changed. When change like this occurs the world and it’s relations can improve as well, allowing for a better functioning society. It won’t be an easy task as change never is, but with everyone’s cooperation policing and community policing can improve drastically.

Bias affects people in so many different ways. Some of those ways include feeling unsafe, having missed opportunities in both employment and education, and physical problems down the road.

First thing is first to figure out how discrimination and bias affects the life of others we must first understand what discrimination and Bias is and how it happens. The author of The Power of Knowing states that Bias is quick judgement for or against someone, something, or a group that is most often interpreted as unfair. The author of that same journal said that bias happens because of schema’s. He also stated shemsa’s being “A set of perceived ideas stored in your memory in your memory and used to assess a current situation and guide and action.”

Now that we know what Bias is we can move to how it affects people. Bias is proven to have a negative impact on people’s physical health. In the academic journal Gender Discrimination In The United States the author communicates to us that bisas is “Linked to a range of poor health-related behaviors… and physical helath problems , including high blood presure, heart disease, and mortality. Later on the author also explains that 9% of women surveyed stated that “They have avoided the doctor or seeking health care for themselves or a family member.” This tells us people are so concerned with having something said to them, or being treated unequally to someone else that they would rather not seek out proper treatment for the things they need.

The other way that discrimintation and bias affect the lives of people is by making them feel unsafe. The quote “ 60 percent reported that they or a family member have been unfairly stopped or treated by the police because they are black.” Discrimination in the United STates: Exeriences of Black Americans presents the idea that black people are being unfairly treated by someone who is suppoesed to make them feel safe. To further pile on to this idea the author of that same article states that black americans polled answered that the fear of bias and iscrimination prevented them from taking action to protect themselves of those people who answered 31% said that they didn’t call the police because of their fear of the police being discriminatory and bias toward them. This further explains to us the reader that the people (police) who are meant to keep us safe are making some people feel the opposite of that by treating some with discriminatory and bias statements and actions.

The last way that discrimination and bias affect the lives of people is by causing missed oportunities in education and employment. These things are almost always tied. In order to get a good job you (almost always) need to have a good education. The academic journal Understanding how Discrimination Can Affect Health that author remarks that “Discrimination reduces access to quality elementary and high school education, preperation for higher educatio…” This ties in too what the aouthor of the article Discrimination in the United States: Experiences of Latinos has to say. The author Mary G. Findling, Sara N. Bleich, Logan S. Casey, Robert J. Blendon, John M. Benson and Justin M. Sayde state both that “Compared to whites, Latinos were younger, less likely to have a college degree.” and that “ Latinos were significantly more likely than whites to experience discrimination in employment, and promotions, and obtaining equal pay.” In another article called The Power of Knowing the author explains to us that a hiring manager will be more likely to hire someone who he or she can relate to whether it be with tiny details, superficial ones, or personality. So with these quotes it is conveyed to us that one of the reasons we get a job or a promotion is because of how relatable we are to are superior that is looking to hiring or promoting us. So if we look different or like different things that the other we are already at a disadvantage. We are also at a disadvantage given the fact that depending on the school you went to you could have been getting a different education based on your race.

Felling unsafe with the people who are suposed to make you feel safe, Having a less likely chance to get the job or being promoted, having a less education, and not being able to have the proper treatment to something you need to stay healthy are just some of the ways that bias nd discrimination affect the lives of people. So next time you make a statement or say something take in mind that you might be causing someone a job just because of something you might not have known was discriminatory or biased.

Capital punishment is a legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime. Within the criminal justice system, Capital punishment has aroused controversy due to discrimination. Many death row cases involve those of color and people in poverty as the defendants. “All that time, I never met a rich person sitting on death row” (Ndume Olatushani, UNHR). Olatushani spent twenty years on death row for a crime he didn’t commit, and during that time he never met a rich person sitting on death row with him. There were only the poor. In the ruling of cases with capital punishment, judges and juries-even if unaware- are conditioned to think about those of color and those who come from poor backgrounds as no good. (Dovidio, ASA interview). White people can’t help but think racially-biased thoughts because of the way society’s biases imprint on them.

RACIAL BIAS

Between 1889 and 1918, around three thousand four hundred forty-six of lynchings happened. The victims of these lynchings were primarily those of color. Some of the reasons for these lynchings are absurd and so insignificant, such as looking at someone across the street. They would be punished by death without a trial. Yet, those who lynched others (white supremacists) had no repercussions and were never sentenced to anything. Eight out of ten of these lynchings occurred in the south. More than eight out of ten of the fifteen hundred executions carried out from 1949 to present have also been in the south. (EJI). One implication of the south’s treatment towards people of color is that the criminal justice system views those of a different race in a negative light. People in the south were taught, even if unknowing, views of racism and those racist views were consequently embedded into their minds. “the majority of white Americans, because they’ve grown up in a culture that has been historically racist in many ways, because they’re exposed to the media that associates violence, drugs and poverty with certain groups” (Dovidio, ASA interview). 34.1% percent of those executed while on death row are black. (Death Penalty Information Center)The United States General Accounting Office found that in eighty-two percent of the cases that invoke the death penalty, the victim’s race influenced the court’s decision. (Death Penalty Information Center) For example, people who killed whites are more likely to be sentenced than those who killed people of color. Forty-two percent of the two thousand seven hundred people who are on death row are black. To add to the bias only one percent of the chief prosecutors of death penalty cases are black, creating a barrier in the criminal justice system that people of color can’t get over. (Death Penalty Information Center) “Their review found that for homicides committed under otherwise similar circumstances, and where defendants had similar criminal histories, a defendant was several times more likely to receive the death penalty if the victim was white than if his victim was African American.”(ACLU) People of color currently make up fifty-five percent of those on death row. The ACLU is saying that people of color are currently oppressed in the criminal justice system. White judges and juries have a bias towards those of color and towards those who are “beneath them”, causing a significant difference in the demographics of those charged with capital punishment. The bias surrounding highly diverse people carries into the bias surrounding diverse areas as well. Because crime rates are higher in highly diverse areas people think of those areas as the lower class.

PUNISHMENT AND POVERTY

With the death penalty as a possible sentence, social class is inexplicably related to the outcome of such a case. The poor are helpless in legal altercations because they cannot post bail nor can they hire a good lawyer. In a case where the prosecution motions for the death penalty, the stakes are raised even higher. Rich people can easily win a court battle with the right lawyer, which to them is affordable. “The death penalty is reserved for those who cannot buy themselves out of an arrest, cannot afford legal representation, cannot afford a decent appeal, and carry no weight in the eyes of the government,” (Alston, Phillip). What Alston is trying to convey is that those who are on death row are those living in poverty. To summarize his words, the death penalty is reserved for the poor. The poor cannot hire private lawyers to help their case so, they receive court-appointed lawyers’. Ninety-five percent of those on death row come from impoverished backgrounds. Stating only five percent of those executed are not poor. In a study recently conducted by the University of New Delhi, twenty percent of convicts on death row have never attended school. In addition to this information, eighty-nine percent of those sentenced to death have not been able to exercise the right to an attorney. Causing the defense to be at the mercy of the prosecution, judge, and jury. (FIDH) Twice as many African Americans live in poverty than Caucasians. African Americans have a poverty rate of twenty point eight percent while Caucasians have a poverty rate of ten point one percent. (2018 US Census data) Around nine million African Americans are living in poverty, while only eight percent of white people are living in poverty. (TalktoPoverty) Social class and race directly correlate with each other because most people in the lower class are people of color. The combination of racial prejudice and poverty plays a major role in court cases with the death penalty. These two factors influence the judge and jury to fall back on the stereotypes that black people are criminals and that those in poverty carry no weight in society. If an average African American man (came from a poor background) was convicted of a murder he would most likely receive the death penalty without the possibility of an appeal. However, if an average White man (middle-class income background) was convicted of the same charges, he would be able to get a good lawyer, appeal to a higher court, and, if convicted, would probably serve life with the possibility of parole.

CONCLUSION

Poverty and racial bias decide a man’s fate when he faces the death penalty. From here we can only fight for complete equality. Courts should all uphold the value of equality and push biases aside when deciding the outcome of a case. If our justice system continues to be biased it will lose its credibility and become corrupt in the eyes of the American people. An extreme solution to this issue would be to abolish capital punishment in any sense. To do this the people must advocate for those on death row and those who were put to death because of their circumstances.

In a lot of crime shows, especially the ones you watch non stop on netflix, The death penalty may seem like an unbiased, clean and quick process. In reality, it is administered unfairly, biased, takes many years to complete, and is slow and costly. You may think that only the absolute worst people receive the death penalty and the criminal justice system is right in convicting these many people to their deaths, but in many cases it is administered in the wrong.

The views you have on race in the equation is pretty biased and racist. Most of the crime shows you watch shows pretty much all white males receiving the death penalty. When in reality, for the exact same crimes, blacks and other minorities are more likely to be sentenced to death. To be true, shows should have a lot more black people being sentenced to capital punishment. It may seem racist, and that is because, surprise. It is. It’s true. Being a certain race can help you be spared or condemned. On top of this, offenders who kill white victims are more likely to receive the death penalty than those who kill minority victims. This was found in the case Sorensen vs. Wallace (1999). In this case, it was discovered that a prosecutor is a lot more likely to file first degree murder, and ask for the death penalty, when the defendant was black and the victim white. These shows never brush up on the factor of the victims race. They never go into that kind of detail in fear of backlash. Nevertheless it happens. When are certain people’s lives more valuable than others? And You may say it is fair because of a jury by peers, that our wonderful country offers. However, death sentences for blacks is 2.6x higher if the jury is mostly white. Even with a jury of their peers as in more of the same race and status, you must remember that the death penalty charge is being brought about by an already racially biased criminal justice system. And touching up with one of the final examples relating to race, Black people on death row are killed much faster, with a lot of white offenders never being killed of at all, again, because of their skin color. Even in a time where race is a sensitive topic and people are striving for equality, this continues to happen behind our backs. Someone’s race isn’t a reason to ensure a quicker death.

Not only is race something that makes the fairness of the death penalty untrue, a person’s sex is also a factor. You can agree with me that to prevent backlash crime shows usually always have a male defendant. This is already depicted by crime shows. This, not intended this way, has a degree of truth. Men are many times more likely to be sentenced to death. Men made up 98.2 percent of all people sentenced to death in 2009. It seems it is reserved almost exclusively for men. And men do not commit 100 percent of all murders. If a man does the exact same crime as a woman, he is more likely to be killed. Not only this, but men who kill female victims are 3.8 times more likely to be sentenced. In these cases, the prosecutors where 5.8 times more likely to receive the death penalty. Fairness for all should be a given, and not based on what the court identifies as men. The numbers do not lie, your gender is a biasing factor.

Touching on a smaller sector, Not only is someone’s race and sex a possible death sentence, but if someone is older or younger could have different chances of being given capital punishment. Unless you are watching a specialized crime episode such as child murderers, you most likely will not have come across this. In a 2004 study, it was discovered that defendants over 25 years of age were twice as likely to receive the death penalty. To add to this, the older the defendant is when sentenced, the more likely it is they will be killed. But fair enough, the odds of a defendant receiving the sentence is 6.6 times higher if they murdered a child. You cannot deny that killing a child is a worse crime, however, in order to be fair, they should be treated more the same.

Now different crime shows or episodes you watch may have their own location settings, however, It is rare, if ever, for the geographical location to make an obvious effect on the defendant’s sentence. A realistic one would hand out most of the death penalties in only a handful of states. Not because there was more murders, because they are more likely to give someone capital punishment. Not only does one’s race, sex, and age factor into the unfair distribution of capital punishment, but the area you live in may have its own laws and death methods relating to the death penalty. It is not equal. 34 states and the military practice capital punishment. 16 others and DC do not. Nothing I have said even applies to someone who isn’t sentenced to death because its not legal to kill them in their location of prosecution. Not surprisingly, Texas had half of all people in the U.S. sentenced to death in 2009. It handed out much more frequently (percentage wise) than most other states. Each state, city, or even county may have a different culture, be more biased than the other, with its law enforcement, prosecutors and jurors all having these biases.This results in more people being sentenced or spared. For example, in Texas’s city Dallas, more death sentences (percentage wise) where handed down than in Houston. Not to mention that in studies of murder cases in two states, Death penalty was more likely to be imposed if it was being conducted in a more rural area. (Ohio and S.C). In other states such as nebraska, this was flipped. It is not fair that based on the area you live in you will be treated differently. To be equal and fair, It should be the same throughout the state, if not country.

The final statements I have to address to you are special interests, errors, and general issues in the handing out of death penalties. It may happen quickly and seem very professional from what you see behind a screen, but in reality, It is incredibly expensive, abhorrently immoral, barbaric, and biased and unfair. Take utah for an example. The firing squad is still an option. That is incredibly messy and seems to be cruel and unusual to most. We do not live in the 1800s. Unfortunately, about 64 percent of the United States still supports the death penalty, but due to media, Movies and T.V, and other influences they remain uninformed on the realities of it. It seems to be the public’s favor and interest in it keeping it alive. If someone with a life sentence is found innocent years later, they can be released. However, if someone who had been killed off long ago is found innocent, they will never be able to experience freedom. They died thinking everyone they knew thought them to be a murderer. The people who are lucky, for example, can be released while on death row. Since 1973, 138 people who found innocent and released. This doesn’t mean they are innocent, but it means they were taken of death row, charges were dropped, or they where dismissed. The courts, in a staggering 7 of 10 cases, made serious errors that resulted in sentencing. Errors can include poor police investigations, police negligence, sabotage by intentional actions, perjure, and confessions from law enforcement manipulation.

In reality, the death penalty is not a fast and fair process. It is full of racism, sexism, bias, negligence, unfair practices, and much more. There is a lot more to it then being loaded up into a cop car, having a commercial break, then coming back to the announcement that they’ve been “sentenced to death” . The perception you receive from most crime shows will not in reality, give you a healthy perception of our criminal justice system. All in all, if crime shows where accurate, black men would be most of the ones sentenced to death, and it would show all of the problems and biases I talked about. And I can guarantee, if they depicted this, peoples opinions would change quickly and it would reform to become a better system. It is important to review it yourself so in the future we as a society can address this issue more fairly and eventually work to revise it with an end product without all the problems we have with it now. To conclude, mother, ask yourself, how many unfair deaths will it take before people finally treat others equally?

In the play Medea, the historical context effects and deepens the understanding of culture, identity, and community. During this period women had no place in society except in the home taking care of family and being looked down at all the time. The Athenian society expected women to submit to their husbands having no privileges and absolutely no power. Madea on top of being a woman was an outsider giving her a lower status within the Athenian Society being viewed as a foreigner before a human. As Madea is mistreated because of her status she challenges the ideals, eventually leading her to kill her kids.

Throughout this play, Medea depicts the way women in ancient Greek society treat and view women. Medea challenges these patriarchal views while questioning the way women get treated, using her voice, “ We women are the most unfortunate creatures[…]For there is no easy escape for a women, nor can she say no to her marriage” ( Medea, pg.8) women in this society were in a way trapped; if they ended up with a man who mistreated them, there was no good way out. If they were able to leave their man they got rejected by the rest of society not being accepted by anyone. Power is something unheard of for women, Medea is portrayed as someone with strong power, a desire which results in her being portrayed as crazy. Even a woman like Medea, who is powerful and different from the norm wondered “ [if] any man would afford me home in a country safe for living?” ( Medea, 13) The point that a woman like Medea still feels like she needs a man by her to protect her shows the very strong patriarchal view of Athenian Society that Euripides was challenging in his play.

Medea is also viewed as an outsider first before a human being. As Jason stated that, “ This is not the first time I have noticed how hopeless it is to deal with damage done by barbarous rage” (Jason, pg. 15) Jason explains and shows how a normal man in this society would view a woman like Medea. Medea is not able to comfortably say that this is her home and it is hugely because of the divide and tension between Jason and Medea. Medea betrayed her father to support Jason in capturing the Golden Fleece. Being an outsider, she bravely decided to become isolated from the society and mistreated. Once she had given up everything for Jason, He saw her as someone who has nothing left to offer him. Jason Could not move up in this world with an outsider like Medea by his side. He was able to use her witchcraft to his advantage to get what he wanted, but moving forward, she would become a burden to him as the people of Greece will not approve of Medea. Resulting in Jason not being able to get the throne as he wished for all his life.

Throughout the entirety of the play, Medea shows and depicts the biases of women and outsiders challenging the way they are viewed in the Athenian Society. Medea in this play is able to exercise her power over a man which was unheard of in this society.

Introduction

Devine and Colleagues (2012) successfully reduced individuals’ implicit race bias by developing a 12-week “prejudice habit-breaking intervention”. The intervention aimed to reduce the characteristics that underlie implicit race bias which regards negative, automatic, and unintentional prejudiced beliefs about race. This research is very important as unintentional prejudices towards Black people are prevalent among White people (e.g. Devine et all, 2012) which has detrimental consequences for Black individual(s) subjected to such prejudices. These consequences involve inequities within the health system, employment, education, and criminal justice (Penner et all, 2013; Quinn Capers, Clinchot, McDougle & Greenwald, 2017). As a result, researchers such as Dasgupta and Greenwald (2001) have attempted to decrease implicit race bias but have only found short re-ductions (as cited in Devine and Colleagues, 2012) On that note, Devine and Colleagues (2012) aimed to combat this issue by creating a multidimensional intervention that aimed to decrease implicit race bias for a prolonged period. They predicted that increasing awareness and knowledge of their bias with increase concern, motivating them to change and decrease their behavior. They also predicted that the intervention tools and a prejudiced habit educational program will reduce their implicit race bias.

Research design

91 psychology students took part in the study, receiving course credit for participants. Random allocation was used when splitting participants into two groups (intervention and control), to increase participant validity. Despite random allocation, the use of introductory psychology students may render the research non-generalizable because they are not representative of the general population (Foot & Sanford, 2004). For example, they differ from non-student populations in their intellectual ability, possibly understanding implicit race bias better. Therefore, they may have been more inclined to reduce their implicit bias due to increased understanding. Additionally, the participants were anticipating a reward for their participation (course credit) which can result in response bias. Their high engagement in reducing their implicit bias could have been due to the belief that if they did not engage, they would not receive course credit (Foot & Sanford, 2004). Thus, future research should remove incentives.

Procedure

Participants were initially required to undergo the implicit association test (IAT) to produce a baseline measurement of the student’s implicit race bias. The IAT can assess unconscious cognition, allowing them to discover racial attitudes that the individual cannot access themselves. Despite being a well-validated and utilized measure, it is argued that it is not a direct measure of behavior outcomes (Blanton et al, 2009). Rather, it only measures underlying unconscious attitudes rather than the individual behavioral outcomes of implicit bias. Thus, an additional behavior outcome measure such as (e.g. The multi-ethnic FPS task) may be beneficial in measuring the real-world application of implicit bias (Sadler, Correll, Park & Judd, 2012). However, this may not be necessary because research has shown that the IAT is related to behavioral outcomes such as aggression (McConnell & Leibold, 2001). 90% of the participants in the Devine et al (2012) study demonstrated a preference for White people over Black people, according to the IAT. Their scores were then feedback to the participants, making them aware in an attempt to increase concern and motivate them to change.

In addition to implicit bias measurement, explicit bias was also measured using a range of techniques (e.g. measuring racial attitudes). After bringing awareness to the participant’s implicit bias, the intervention began. Firstly, they were educated about implicit bias in the form of a 45-minute interactive slide show which aimed to increase understanding of the prejudice habit and implicit bias regarding automaticity, development, how IAT measures implicit bias, and the negative consequences of Implicit race bias.

behavioral change models suggest that individuals who are educated on their behavior are more likely to change their behavior (Michie, Alkins & West, 2014). Therefore, Devine and Colleagues’ (2012) method of training their participants was likely to increase the efficacy of their intervention.

Participants were taught a range of techniques to combat their implicit race bias which were intended to be used in their everyday life. Strategies included removing racial stereotypes, counter–stereotypic imaging, perspective taking, individuation, and increasing personal contact. The IAT was then administered at week 4 and at week 8. Devine and Colleagues’ intervention was shown to decrease implicit race bias for a prolonged period of time. However, it is uncertain whether all the strategies are beneficial. For example, research that investigated the efficacy of implicit bias interventions found that perspective-taking was not effective in reducing implicit bias (Lai and colleagues, 2014). Interestingly, faking the IAT was highly effective which may cause concern about the overall validity of the IAT that was administered at week 4 and at week 8 in the Devine et al (2012) study. Participants may have faked the IAT to trick the researchers into thinking that their implicit race bias has decreased.

Results:

The main findings found that participants who took part in the intervention experienced a significant reduction in IAT score than participants in the control group, signifying a decrease in implicit race bias. This reduction was maintained over time. Levels of concern predicted levels of implicit bias, demonstrating that increased concern results in a decrease in implicit bias. The explicit measures (racial attitudes) remained the same throughout and thus were not influenced by the intervention.

Previous research demonstrated momentarily decreases in implicit race bias. Thus, Devine and Colleagues (2012) were the first to develop an intervention that caused prolonged effects, setting the foundation for future research. Despite methodological issues, the research was very important in demonstrating how implicit bias can be decreased using an integrated approach. Further research requires using a sample population that is more representative of the general public, removing incentives, incorporating behavioral measures in addition to IAT, and utilizing effective implicit reduction strategies.

Everywhere we go, all humans carry with them personal biases. Whether those biases be against a particular race, sexuality, or gender, or in favor of one or all of those things, they are still there. These biases come from where we were raised and the way we were raised. These environments range from family values to religious beliefs. And once again, whether you realize it or not, everybody has some sort of bias. However, these biases can be much less harmful if an individual does not act on them. If he or she acts on this bias, then it can create a loop of hurtful actions, and in many cases, no consequences. This leads me to the feminist movement. Women have been treated differently than men since humans could first fathom the difference in gender. This comes in forms, including people believing they belonged to their husbands, not being able to join the army in the Civil War, to the gender pay gap that is still being fought against today. Women, in response to these actions, have decided to fight back. They organize marches to show their support for each other. They protest the toxic masculinity that they experience at work. They are even going the extra mile to teach young girls about their rights and how they should be treated. Women are not treated equally in the USA and in the rest of the world. They are silenced, mistreated, and given a smaller amount of opportunities, all of which sprout from the belief that they deserve to be treated as lesser because they are different than men. In my essay, I argue why women deserve rights and why they should be treated equally.

Especially in modern media, women are being told to not speak their minds or to ‘keep quiet’. Up until the 1920s, women were denied the right to vote. In those times, their husbands would make a decision for the family on who they would support in the elections. “I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my stand”, Susan B. Anthoney said once. Susan B. Anthoney was very much ahead of her time. She was a feminist in the 1800s. Her quote is an example of how women were being treated, and how she believes they should be treated. Unfortunately, not everyone agreed or agrees with Anthoney. As stated in ”No Votes Thank You’ – Lord Curzon of Kedleston and the Anti-Suffrage Movement’, “Anti-suffragism was rooted in popular prejudices, and especially in a deep-rooted fear of women becoming ‘masculinized’ by their entry into political life”. Lord Curzon was a British viceroy of India. He is only one of the people who disagreed with Woman’s Suffrage. This quote from National Trust shows his attitude towards suffrage. While he did not say this directly, he has been quoted as saying “No Votes Thank You”. These two people are on the opposite side of the spectrum. Their views can show these two sides accurately and demonstrate how divided people were over this issue. In 1920, women finally gained their right to vote.

You can classify suffrage and the act of opposing it as not only women being silenced but as mistreatment and a violation of their rights. Many women have unfortunately endured abuse. This abuse can come from many outlets, ranging from work to home. It can also be physical or emotional. “The scars from mental cruelty can be as deep and long-lasting as wounds from punches or slaps but are often not as obvious. In fact, even among women who have experienced violence from a partner, half or more report that the man’s emotional abuse is what is causing them the greatest harm”, said Lundy Bancroft. This quote is able to describe the kind of harm that some women go through. And many people dismiss these allegations. One of the main debates going on in America right now is President Trump’s treatment of women. As stated by Amanda Carpenter in ‘Trump’s Treatment of Women Was His Original Abuse of Power’, “Anyone who has observed Trump can see he has always sought to abuse his power and influence. The women who came forward in 2016 tried to warn us about the harm he was capable of. Just think of how much suffering would have been prevented if we had listened”. This quote gives a second example of the mistreatment of women. However, this quote gives us the actions of someone who denies their mistreatment of women. President Trump has been quoted saying, “I have tremendous respect for women and the many roles they serve that are vital to the fabric of our society and our economy” (Blake, Aaron, ‘Analysis| 21 Times Donald Trump Has Assured Us He Respects Women’, The Washington Post, 28 Apr. 2019). This quote shows that denial. If these allegations of mistreatment of women are true, then this is an example of the mistreatment of women and the denial of such actions.

It is almost undoubtedly that women are given a smaller amount of opportunities than men. And not only in this country. They have fewer opportunities all over the world. In Saudi Arabia, up until 2018, women were not allowed to drive. In America, one of the biggest issues facing the country is the gender pay gap. “When I joined four teammates in filing a wage-discrimination complaint against U.S. Soccer late last month, it had nothing to do with how much I love to play for my country. It had everything to do with what’s right and what’s fair and with upholding a fundamental American concept: ‘Equal pay for equal play’”, noted Carli Lloyd. Carli Lloyd is a player on the U.S. women’s soccer team, who has continued to fight against the gender pay gap. This quote from her can demonstrate their mission and how she views the gender pay gap. Her perspectives represent what Barak Obama was trying to do as president. Unfortunately, a lot of the progress he made was reversed by President Trump. With both legislation and his own actions. We need to be taking steps toward eliminating the gender pay gap, as this will allow women to have more opportunities.

I have yet to bring up the important point that the feminist movement has been taking off more rapidly for the past century. These perspectives, stats, and quotations were meant to show both sides of that argument. I began writing taking about bias and how we carry that with us everywhere we go. I apologize if I have let my own bias and opinions slip into my writing, but it only proves the point. We need to begin looking at gender as something that doesn’t define people if they wish it not to. We need to be looking at people as people first. If we achieve this, we can solve so many problems. One of those being women’s rights. As it has and as it now stands, women are silenced, mistreated, and not given as many opportunities. I believe that if we work hard enough, we can change that. We can begin to reverse some of the things we have done to put them in this position. I will leave you with this thought. Why should we be waiting to give people respect and equality?

While we always like to believe that we are rational and logical, we are commonly and constantly influenced by constant bias in our lives. Sometimes these biases are easy to recognize and sometimes they are far more difficult to notice. Bias affects our decision-making process throughout the entire day and influences how we think, how we feel, and how we behave. We are often incorrectly influenced by all types of people, for instance, we can be incorrectly diagnosed by a doctor but we are biased to believe everything they say because they are supposed to be professionals. We can also be biased because of our own beliefs. For example, If I was to see a horrific car accident because someone drank and drive, I would be biased to not drinking at all because I would believe that a horrible accident would happen because I simply had a drink. Bias can also be formed through a group of people. If I have a certain belief that is not true but others believe the same information then my own beliefs are causing bias in other people’s minds.

Bias influences the story of Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Ross because the jurors are racist towards the young boy because of the color of his skin. The themes of bias continue to Antignone by Sophocleswith the thought that men are above women. The men of the time were biased to think that they were more powerful than the women of their society because men were considered to be strong and fearless whereas women were not viewed that way. In The Tragedy of Julius Cesar by William Shakespeare, Brutus is bias towards Cassius because Julius is easily persuaded to kill one of his close friends. This is a great example of how the beliefs of a group can influence an individual even though those beliefs are wrong and cause harm. Bias is everywhere in our lives and is clearly outlined in many forms in the plays, Twelve Angry Men, Antigone, and Julius Caesar.

In the play Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Ross everyone has a bias. For example at the beginning when the foreman takes a vote, “7 or 8 hands go up immediately several others go up more slowly. Everyone looks around the table…”(Rose,1,14). This shows that right away eleven out of the twelve jurors think that the boy is guilty. This means that the jurors have bias towards the fact that he is guilty because they don’t even want to discuss the case before they might wrongly convict a young boy of murder. However juror Eight responds saying, “I don’t want to change your mind. I just want to talk for a while. Look this boy has been kicked around all his life…”(Rose,1,16). This shows that juror Eight actually cares about the case and what could happen to a possibly innocent boy. This means that he has a bias towards the kid being not guilty elaborating that just because hes comes from a bad background doesn’t mean hes a murderer. In conclusion, the theme is evident because of the jurors being biased and unbiased toward the kid.

In the play Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose everyone has a bias. For example when juror Nine and Ten are arguing Ten says, “You’re not going to tell us that were supposed to believe him, knowing what he is. I’ve lived among ‘em all my life. You can’t believe a word they say. You know that.”(Rose,act 1,19). This shows that he believes the boy is guilty because of his race and background. This means that he is biased against the boy because he is being prejudiced and stereotypical. Another example is when juror Eight is talking to Ten about evidence he says, “ I’d like to ask you something. How come you believe her? She’s one of ‘them’ too, isn’t she?”(Rose,act 2,27). This shows that juror Eight acknowledges the fact that juror Ten is racist and stereotyping the boy and his community. This means that juror Eight is still biased towards the boy because he knows some of the jurors are racist and prejudiced towards African Americans. This furthermore proves the theme of bias in the play by the jurors changing their biases on the kid.

In the play Antigone by Sophocles, everyone has a bias. For example, Antigone talking about Creon says, “Creon buried our brother Etocles with military honors, gave him a soldiers funeral, and it was right that he should; but Polyneices, they fought as bravely and died as miserably, — They say that Creon has sworn no one shall bury, no one shall mourn for him (Sophocles, act 1, 15-19).” This shows that Creon buried one of the brothers with a huge amazing funeral but left the other to rot away in a field. This proves that Creon is biased towards Eteocles because of how much he did for him and not Polyneices. Another example is when Antigone is arguing with her sister, Ismene says, “The law is strong we must give in to the law on this thing and in worse. I beg the dead to forgive me, but I am helpless; I must yield to those in authority…(Sophocles, act 1, 49-51).” This shows that Ismene is thinks that obeying the law is more important than burying her brother. This means that Ismene is biased towards following the laws because that takes priority over her brother. Therefore the theme of everyone has a bias is shown by Ismene and Creon in their own situations.

In the play Antigone by Sophocles, everyone has a bias. For example, when Creon is punishing Antigone he says, “You, there, take them away and guard them well: For they are but women, and even brave men run when they see death coming. (Sophocles,1,461-463)” This shows that Creon is saying that even brave strong men run away from death, who knows what these weak women will do. This means that Creon is biased towards men over women because he thinks men are superior. Another example is when Haimon is talking to his father about Antigone’s punishment he says, “Muttering and whispering in the dark about this girl. They say no woman has ever, so unreasonably, Died so shameful a death for a generous act: “She covered her brother’s body. Is this indecent? She kept him from dogs and vultures. Is this a crime? Death? ––She should have all the honor that we can give her!” This shows that Haimon is trying to change his father’s mind about putting Antigone to death for just trying to properly bury her brother and saying she did no wrong. This means that Haimon is biased toward Antigone because he’s trying to argue with his father who is the king and what he says goes but he’s willing to fight his father for her life. Therefore the theme of bias is shown by Haimon choosing Antigone over his father and Creon saying men are superior than women.

In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, everyone has a bias. For example, the cobbler says to Flavius, “Truly, sir, to wear their shoes to get me into more work. But indeed, sir, we make holiday to see Caesar and to rejoice in his triumph.”(Shakespear, act 1, scene 1, lines 30-32). This shows that the citizens are so excited to see the new king that they all took off work claiming his arrival is a holiday. This means that the citizens have a bias towards the new king because they are celebrating him defeating their old king and his arrival. Another example is Murellus responding to the cobbler saying, “Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home? What tributaries follow him to Rome To grace in captive bonds his chariot wheels? You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things…”(Shakespear, act 1, scene 1, lines 33-35). This shows that Murellus is very upset about the fact that the citizens are praising Caesar because of how much he tried to defend Pompe. This means that Murellus is biased toward Pompe over Caesar because of how much he thinks Pompe did for Rome. In conclusion, both the cobbler and Murellus are biased toward who they think is the better king.

In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by WIlliam Shakespear everyone has a bias. For example, when Flavius is talking to Murellus he says, “See whether their basest metal be not moved. They vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness. Go you down that way towards the Capitol. This way will I. Disrobe the images, If you do find them decked with ceremonies.”(Shakespear, act 1, scene 1, lines 61-65). This shows that Flavius dislikes Caesar so much that he is going to go around and break up any groups excited for his arrival as well as destroy all the decorations in honor of him. This means that Flavius has a huge bias towards Pompey and hates that people are excited for his replacement with Caesar. Another example is when Cassius is talking about Caesar to Brutus he says, “He had a fever when he was in Spain,And when the fit was on him, I did mark How he did shake. ‘Tis true, this god did shake! His coward lips did from their color fly, And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world Did lose his luster. I did hear him groan, Ay, and that tongue of his that bade the Romans…”(Shakespear, act 1, scene 2, lines 121-127). This shows that Cassius thinks Caesar shouldn’t be called immortal because he saw Caesar get sick showing he’s very weak and not the rightful person to sit on the throne and be called a god.

This means that Cassius has a bias against Caesar because he feels like he or Brutus could be a better king then he ever will. In conclusion, the theme is shown by Cassius and Flavius having a bias against Caesar.

By examining all three of these writings, we can see that bias affects all of the characters in the stories. All aspects of our lives can be affected by bias, from the jurors in Twelve Angry Men judging a young boy solely based on the color of his skin to Brutus condemning one of his greatest friends to death. We as individuals can move beyond the bias and embrace logic to see situations more clearly while also making better judgments in our everyday lives. Bias is something that can be completely avoided by changing our perspective on topics and problems in front of us.

In the current climate of America, there has been a lot of controversy regarding policing and in specific, whether there is racial bias in policing. Some people claim there is no racial bias when it comes to policing such as when Vice President Mike Pence stated during a debate that there was no bias towards minorities in law enforcement while others believe that there definitely is a bias towards minorities. Despite there being people who say there is a racial bias and there is not a racial bias, statistics indicate that there is indeed a bias in the overall scheme of things. This does not mean that everyone involved in law enforcement is a racist and contributes to the overall racial bias but there are definitely a few bad apples that operate with this bias. When looking at the criminal justice system as a whole, there is clearly a racial bias that can be seen in different treatment that whites and minorities receive.

One metric that has indicated that the overall criminal justice system has a racial bias towards minorities is number of black Americans that are incarcerated compared to the number of white Americans that are incarcerated for the same crime committed. Statistics show that, “black males are six times more likely to be incarcerated than white males and 2.5 times more likely than Hispanic males” (Clemons 690). Some argue that this just means that black Americans are committing way more crimes than white and/or Hispanic Americans but this just is not true because for example, “research has consistently revealed that black and white Americans abuse and sell illegal drugs at similar rates”, and in addition to this, the rate of black American’s arrested for illegal drugs rose by almost four times in the time period of 1980 to 2000 while white American arrests for illegal drugs remained the same (Clemons 691). This means that if black Americans and white Americans were committing the roughly the same amount of illegal drug crimes but black Americans were being arrested way more for them then the logical conclusion to make is that those doing the arrests had a bias towards the black Americans. In addition, according to the Washington Post, black Americans are being killed by the police at a disproportional rate because less than 13% of the American population is black Americans and yet they are being killed more than twice the amount white Americans are being killed by police. Considering the previous point of how black Americans aren’t committing a significant more amount of crimes than white Americans, this shows that there must be some sort of bias that is causing this extreme difference in treatment.

The public opinion of how people feel about the treatment of minorities is also important to consider because the criminal justice system is supposed to keep people safe but if the policies made for the people are doing the opposite and making them feel unsafe, then maybe something needs to change. The fact that 87% of black Americans and 63% of white Americans think that the black people are treated unfairly in the criminal justice system speaks some truth to the fact that there is an issue that is present. In a study that focused on racial bias in policing and the public’s perception, it was found that minorities especially black Americans were much more likely to report that they had been discriminated against by police based on race. Now just because they believe that they were discriminated against does not necessarily mean there actually was discrimination but during their study they did find that most of the reports were consistent with the interactions they saw between police and minorities where the police had a tendency to be more suspicious of minorities. Another issue to consider is how people’s perception of the police is shaped. This is important because this will determine whether people will believe that there is a racial bias in the criminal justice system. This in turn affects their decision on who they will vote for because if they believe that there is no racial bias then they would be less likely to vote for someone who believes and wants to get rid of the racial bias. In the study from George Washington University that focused on racially based policing, they found that there were two factors that affected the way people viewed police the most which were: personal experience with the police and the way police were portrayed in the media. If someone has personally had a bad experience with the police that they felt was based on race then they will be more likely perceive that a racial bias exists while those who never have a bad experience with police will view the police in a better light and be less likely to believe in racial bias. In addition, if the media someone consumes often reports on instances on police abuse then they will be more likely to believe that the police have a racial bias and want it to be changed.

References

1. Clemons, J. (2014). Blind injustice: The supreme court, implicit racial bias, and the racial disparity in the criminal justice system. American Criminal Law Review, 51(3), 689-714.
2. Fallis, D., & Rindler, D. (Eds.). (2020, January 22). Fatal Force: Police shootings database. Retrieved October 21, 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/
3. Weitzer, R., & Tuch, S. A. (2005). Racially Biased Policing: Determinants of Citizen Perceptions. Social Forces, 83(3), 1009-1030. doi:10.1353/sof.2005.0050

Are you guilty of making judgments of off initial appearance? Maybe it’s an unconscious bias, but this discrimination in a court case can cause the defendants an undeserved sentence or in some cases death! 4% of death row inmates are likely innocent and over 1,500 people have died being wrongfully executed. Systemic Racism and Implicit Bias is one of the main causes of wrongful convictions in court, and mainly come from the uneducated members of the jury. The extremely high risk of jury tampering consisting of threats, bribery and intimidation can also advance to a later miscarriage of justice. It is undoubtedly comprehensible that bias jurors make decisions based on their views of the race, gender or religion of the defendant, usually resulting in a damaging aftermath when the views are passed through onto the final say by the judge, who considers what is said by the jury when making the life changing decision of another. Jurors can convict someone based on their discriminative judgment, not the facts and evidence involved in the case or provided by a lawyer. Curtis Flower’s case was found to be racially biased as Attorney Doug Evans removed as many African-American jurors as he could which resulted in evidence of racially motivated decisions, he was later sentenced to death. Curtis Flowers was deprived of a fair and equal trial. The same prejudice conviction took place in 1987 to a man called Timothy Foster, this led to an impotent trial. Researchers at Michigan State University discovered that African American prisoners who were sentenced for murder are about 50% more likely to be innocent than other convicted murderers and spend longer in prison before exoneration. The Supreme Court denounce the ‘recurring evil’ of racial bias in the U.S. criminal justice system, in the case of a Hispanic man convicted of sex charges that a juror’s racist comments during deliberations. The Mexican man convicted was called Miguel Pena Rodriguez and a member of the jury aimed racist and bigotry comments including “he did it because he’s Mexican, and Mexican men take whatever they want”.

I know for a fact that inequality and racism happen to this day by the jury and by abolishing the jury system innocent people will be spared of intolerance and given freedom and a voice. An appalling outcome of bias jurors is wrongful convictions. “Research shows that when jurors are asked to recall facts, they are inclined to misremember information in racially biased ways”. Unquestionably this shows racism plays a part in decision making of jurors, resulting in false convictions. Discriminative jurors are common, therefore mass amounts of innocent citizens are prejudicially convicted guilty. National statistics of wrongful convictions show 49% of people wrongfully convicted were black. Donald Marshall Jr a man from Nova Scotia, was wrongly convicted of murdering a friend by an all-white jury. When he was released 11 years later, his wrongful conviction cited systemic racism as the root cause of his conviction.

Imagine if you stood in court, innocent, and was teared apart by hateful opinions and unequal treatment solely based on your physical appearance. If someone discovers the jury of a certain trial they might bribe or threaten them to attempt to influence the jury to make decisions that are not based on evidence given in court during a trial, this is called jury tampering. Typical examples of Jury tampering consist of bribing or threatening a juror to decide a case a certain way, however there are more subtle techniques by leaving jurors anonymous notes or photographs and telling them information that was not presented in court. There have been complaints during high profile cases, for instance when two jurors in the case of Tony Martin complained of intimidation by Tony’s friends, during the trial. Although jury tampering is a felony and can result in perpetrators receiving up to 20 years max in prison, plenty to this day don’t refrain from manipulating or intimidating jurors, consequently forming an unfair trial and misconduct of justice.

We all agree that the only people in charge of making decisions in court should be well educated, however studies have found that not all jurors understand law and find it difficult to understand a judge’s legal directions. To ensure a fair trial, juror’s need to understand directions to avoid miscarriage of justice. The only way to ensure the case is fair is to have an educated panel of judges deciding convictions based on evidence presented in court by legal professionals. 71% of jurors don’t understand the directions, this could be due to the fact people who turn up to jury duty are unemployed and therefore lack qualifications and education. Overall, those who turn up are last qualified to serve as jurors, most trials contain complex evidence and documents which makes it near impossible for juries to decide if the defendant is guilty, this is exactly where all goes wrong. One case that has been found difficult to understand is fraud as analysis of documents are exceptionally difficult to understand. Not using evidence provided in court will guarantee inequity.

Should we follow in the footsteps of other countries? Absolutely! South Africa’s courts have a reputation of being professional and independent. By abolishing the jury system, they can give well-considered judgements without fear. “Unlike jurors, judges will not easily be swayed by gossip or even by serious and credible allegations about an accused in a criminal case published in the media” – Constitutional lawyer, Pierre de Vos. The lawyer states he would not trust jury in South Africa due to bias and racism. South African Olympic star Oscar Pistorius murder case had no jury. Singapore, Pakistan, India, Malaysia and Indonesia are other examples of countries with no jury system, instead they rely on educated panel of judges and legal workers when convicting. The USA has been the subject of most wrongful convictions research than any other country in the world, Japan and some Western European countries such as Germany also have high rates of wrongful convictions compared to countries with jury system abolished.

As previously mentioned, judges are very unlikely to be swayed by gossip and media, however for jurors this is not the case. The impact of the media in this day and age is massive, so when cases go viral everyone has a say and opinions published all over social media. The Media’s depictions of lawyers, judges, defendants, and witnesses might influence and sway the decisions of the jurors and their expectations about these people furthers to miscarriage of justice. The effect of the media influenced the jury in HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy’s case. Multi-Millionaire Richard Scrushy was one of the most abhorred people in the media during his case in 2005. As a fight against negative media opinions he started a religious talk show to give a portrayal of a relatable guy, as most of those in the area were religious. He made lots of generous donations and eventually reinvented himself as kind-hearted to draw away negative attention and make ‘an effort to soften the jury pool’. This demonstrates an online war to win the respect of a 12-person jury pool, and due to his media success Richard was found not guilty.

Overall, what have we discovered about the jury trial? We have discovered the severe damage jurors are capable of due to their bias views. By abolishing the jury system, we could prevent locking innocent people up and restricting them from their families, freedom and liberty. We have also learned that countries without jury have fewer miscarriage of justice cases, and countries like USA, who widely use juries have the highest wrongful convictions.