The Psychology of Juries essay
Legal psychology encompasses the practical and psychological study of law, legal institutions and people who come into contact with the law. Legal psychologists commonly take basic social and cognitive principles and apply them to problems in the legal system, such as eyewitness memory, jury decisions, investigations. Juries provide a real-world laboratory for examining theoretical issues related to reasoning, memory, judgment, and decision-making. making, attribution, stereotyping, persuasion and group behavior. The first of a two-part set on the psychology of the courtroom, Jury Psychology: Social Aspects of Trial Processes provides a definitive account of the influence of trial procedures on juror decision-making. A wide range of topics are covered, including pre-trial publicity and inadmissible evidence, jury selection, jury instruction and death. This introduction provides an overview of the relevant issues addressed in this special theme issue of Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, which is devoted to the topic of jury instructions. Pre-trial publicity PTP includes all media coverage of a case that occurred before the trial of Greene amp. Wade, 1988 Studebaker amp Penrod, 1997. Importantly, substantial PTP, which is prejudicial and anti-suspect in nature, can influence jurors' views of the suspect's character and increase the likelihood of a guilty verdict, see Steblay, Jury Selection in Court Essay Critical Writing Jury selection is a complicated process. The prosecution and defense must weigh whether having a particular juror on the panel will help or hurt their case. In some cases, psychologists are used to help attorneys determine which jurors are best suited. This chapter provides a snapshot of the different ways in which countries around the world use lay participation in legal decision-making. We gathered information from a variety of sources, including new expert surveys, legal research, and existing empirical evidence, to determine which countries use lay citizens as legal decisions,