Crime and Biased Punishment: The Biasing Effect of Pretrial Incarceration on Judgement

Abstract

The present study examined whether a defendant’s treatment prior to trial biases people’s perceptions of the defendant’s guilt, the perceived severity of the crime, and ratings of the fairness of the legal process. Participants (N = 146) were informed of the defendant’s pretrial treatment (at home; incarcerated; no information) and his income (45,000/yr or 110,000/yr). Participants read information about a crime, made judgments, and completed both individual and general measures of Belief in a Just World (BJW). When informed that the defendant was incarcerated prior to trial, participants rated the defendant as significantly less likely to be guilty than those who received no information. Incarceration prior to trial was also judged as the least fair of the pre-trial treatment conditions. The defendant’s income had no significant effects; however, when participants were informed that the defendant was incarcerated prior to trial and had a low annual income, they provided a more detailed justification of their ratings than participants in any other condition.