Factors Affecting Juror Behavior Towards Perpetrators and...

Our current study examines juror behaviour towards perpetrators and victims in a criminal trial setting. Taken into account, are two factors hypothesized to influence the judicial outcome of criminal trials in Canada and the United States. Primarily, that a jurors level of belief in a just world (BJW) influences his or her decisions towards both the perpetrator and victim, with those jurors measuring higher in BJW being more apt to blame the victim for his or her own misfortune. Second, that the relationship between BJW and the victim blaming behaviour of the juror is mediated by whether the victim is portrayed as innocent, having done nothing to deserve victimization; or portrayed as non-innocent, having contributed to their own misfortune through careless or immoral behaviour. We analyzed data for main effects of both BJW and victim type on outcome variables perpetrator sentencing and victim monetary compensation. Data was further analyzed for possible interaction effects between B JW and victim type using multiple regression analysis, retaining the continuous characteristic of the BJW predictor variable. Results revealed no significant interaction effects or main effect of BJW on either dependent variable, however, a significant main effect of victim type was observed. It is not uncommon for people in unfortunate situations to be cited as the source of their own troubles. If someone has been mugged walking home, they must have somehow been responsible by leaving