Browsing by Author "Sweeney, Laura"
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Item A comparison of Canadian and American offender stereotypes(2013) Allison, Meredith; Sweeney, Laura; Jung, SandyOffender stereotypes of Canadians and Americans were compared via an inductive, open-ended method. Participants were asked to write down the race, gender, and age for eleven types of offenders. There was agreement between the two countries in terms of race (White for eight offender types), gender (male for eight offenders), and age (similar estimation of age for six offenders). However, Americans were more likely to state that the Armed Robber was Black. Participants in both countries indicated that the Drug Trafficker was Black, although, a third of Americans also indicated this offender type was Hispanic. The findings are discussed in relation to the demographic makeup of the general, and offender populations of each country.Item The impact of illegal alibi activities, corroborator involvement and corroborator certainty on mock juror perceptions(2014) Allison, Meredith; Jung, Sandy; Sweeney, Laura; Culhane, ScottUndergraduate mock jurors (N= 360) received a mock police report and trial in which a suspect was accused of rape. The suspect offered one of three alibis: a sexually salacious and illegal alibi, a non-sexually salacious and illegal alibi, and a control condition. The corroborator either helped or observed him in his illegal alibi activities and was either 100 or 80% sure she was with him that night. Alibi salaciousness did not significantly affect alibi believability although it had a significant impact on views of the defendant's and corroborator's characters, corroborator believability, and verdict certainty. The non-sexually salacious alibi generally led to higher ratings on these measures in comparison with the control condition. Corroborator certainty had significant effects on perceptions of the corroborator.