How Newsworthy is this Incident? What should the Consequences be? Blurred Lines: The Influence of Social Status on Public Perceptions of Criminal Incidents Satia A. Marotta and Samuel R. Sommers Tufts University Background Media coverage of legal proceedings that appear to favor offenders with high social status has led to concerns about the fairness of the justice system. Further, the public has increasingly been able to intervene in potentially criminal incidents via online petitions and crowd-sourcing legal aid; however, little is known about the circumstances that are most likely to elicit public intervention. Past research suggests: Social status is a measure of how positively one is viewed by their ingroup and is often indicated by the amount of influence, education, and resources an individual has within that group (Pettit, Yong, & Spataro, 2010). The social status of a victim may influence how law enforcement officials view and investigate incidents in which they are involved (Almodovar, 2002). Being a member of a stigmatized group may influence legal outcomes (Franklin, 2010; Kautt & Spohn, 2002). Research Question How does the social status of victims and suspects influence perceptions of criminality, severity, and newsworthiness? Who is Responsible? How Newsworthy is this Incident? The extent to which participants believed the incident was newsworthy. Higher numbers indicate increased newsworthiness. Study 1. No statistically significant differences between conditions (p’s > 0.3). Study 2. Statistically significant main effect in that incidents in which the Suspect was of High Social Status were perceived as more newsworthy, F(1,159) = 4.41, p = 0.04. Study 3. Statistically significant main effect in that incidents in which the victim was of Low Social Status were perceived as more newsworthy, F(1,296) = 7.94, p < 0.01. Statistically significant main effect in that incidents in which the Suspect was of High Social Status were perceived as more newsworthy, F(1,296) = 5.38, p = 0.02. The extent to which participants believed the suspect was responsible for the incident. Higher numbers indicate the suspect is more responsible than the victim. Studies 1 & 2. No statistically significant differences between conditions (p’s > 0.2). Study 3. Marginal interaction effect in that in the Low Status Victim condition the status of the Suspect did not affect responsibility judgments, while in the High Status Victim condition, High Status Suspects were viewed as more responsible than Low Status Suspects. F(1,297) = 3.30, p = 0.07. Method Study Design 2(Victim’s Social Status :High or Low) x 2(Suspect’s Social Status: High or Low) Procedure: What should the Consequences be? Participant Demographics Study 1 Online Sample (N=299) 75% White 53% Women Mean Age: 37.4 years Study 2 Undergraduates(N=163) 60% White 73% Women Mean Age: 18.9 years Study 3 Online Sample(N=301) 76% White 64% Women Mean Age: 37.8 years Procedure Read Article Ambiguous incident in which a sexual assault likely occurred Social status of victim and suspect is manipulated Make Judgements Responsibility Consequences Newsworthiness Demographics Discussion Findings In general, participants were able to objectively determine who was responsible for an incident Participants were inconsistently influenced by the social status of the victim and suspect in an incident when evaluating what consequences were appropriate How newsworthy an incident was perceived to be was influenced significantly by the social status of the victim and suspect Limitations Results were inconsistent across studies; further research is needed to disambiguate findings Focused on a single type of potentially criminal incident; results might be other crimes Focused on the public; future research could investigate responses of law enforcement officials Implications The social status of parties involved in a potentially criminal incident may influence perceptions The public’s judgments regarding which incidents deserve attention and action may be influenced by irrelevant aspects of the incident Future Directions If the incident was a homicide, would social status have a similar affect on perceptions? Would an archival analysis reveal that petitions in which the social status of the victim and suspect were known suggest similar trends? The extent to which participants believed the suspect should be arrested. Higher numbers indicate the increased agreement with pursuing an arrest. Studies 1 & 2. No statistically significant differences between conditions (p’s > 0.3). Study 3. Marginal main effect in that support for an arrest was higher in the Low Status Victim condition than in the High Status Victim condition F(1,296)=3.45, p = 0.06. Marginal main effect in that support for an arrest was higher in the High Status Suspect condition than in the Low Status Suspect condition F(1,296)=3.08, p = 0.08. References Almodovar, N.J. (2002). For their own good: The results of the prostitution laws as enforced by cops, politicians, and judges. In W. McElroy (Ed.), Liberty for Women (pp.71-87). Chicago: The Independent Institute. Franklin, T. W. (2010). The intersection of defendants’ race, gender, and age in prosecutorial decision making. Journal of Criminal Justice 38,185-192. Kautt, P., & Spohn, C. (2002). Crack-ing down on Black drug offenders? Testing for interactions among offenders’ race, drug type, and sentencing strategy in federal drug sentences. Justice Quarterly, 19(1), 1-35. Pettit, N.C., Yong, K., & Spataro, S.E. (2010). Holding your place: Reactions to the prospect of status gains and losses. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 396-401.