Degree Name

MA (Master of Arts)

Program

Criminal Justice and Criminology

Date of Award

5-2013

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Larry Miller

Committee Members

John Whitehead, Dennis Hamm

Abstract

The jury method is a unique social setting in the Criminal Justice system that provides opportunity for social influence to occur. Questions about the formation of jurors’ individual and collective decisions have stimulated a great deal of interest and research. This study is a review of the juror decision-making process and the various sources of influence that can affect it. Mock jurors were asked to review a mock criminal trial as well as the testimony of 2 witnesses. Upon reviewing the case, a predeliberation verdict (guilty or not guilty) and the degree of certainty of that decision was made. Once deliberation had occurred and ended, the jurors were asked to make a postdeliberation verdict. This study was conducted to see if conformity would take place during a mock jury deliberation, and how influential the actual deliberation was on the jurors. The results demonstrated that not only did jury deliberation influence individual juror’s verdicts, but it made their verdict confidence stronger as well.

Document Type

Thesis - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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