A defendant’s age can be an important determinant of judicial outcomes, but the perception of a defendant’s age can have implications for how these outcomes are determined. Research has suggested a connection between racial bias and age perception. This study sought to describe an age bias against African-Americans, and to connect this to jury sentencing outcomes. Undergraduate participants (N = 318) were recruited from university in the Appalachia region. First, participants estimated the ages of individuals in photographs. Analyses primarily focused on 18 and 19-year-old African-American and Caucasian males, but included a number of photographs from older males and females. Then, participants suggested a prison sentence in a mock jury sentencing task. African-Americans were estimated to be older than Caucasians by nearly four years (d = 1.75). This difference was present when controlling for exposure to African Americans, but with a negligible effect (d = 0.17). A modest increase (0.5 years, d = 0.32) was found in the sentence lengths assigned to African-American defendants. Discrepancies between age estimates and Page 112 2015 Appalachian Student Research Forum sentence lengths were not correlated. However logistic regression analyses found that age estimates of African-Americans were predictive of sentences exceeding state guidelines for this group, and the difference in age estimates between African-Americans and Caucasians was predictive of excessive sentences for both groups. While these regressions produced statistically significant (p < 0.05), the effect sizes of these regressions were negligible (d < 0.20). These findings suggest age bias is present and may have implications for juveniles and young adults in criminal proceedings.

The problem addressed by this study was that of determining whether significant differences existed among selected apprehensions of black and white teachers in twelve Illinois School Districts with operative staff desegregation programs. The major assumption of this study was that both black and white teachers have apprehensions related to teaching in schools which have student and staff populations predominately of the opposite race. Three hypotheses were formulated in order to investigate the problem. Data were collected via a questionnaire which was administered to 2,250 teachers. The selected apprehensions were tabulated, and the scores were tested utilizing the chi-square test for independence. The probabilities for the events were reported at the 0.01 level. The findings indicated that both black and white teachers were apprehensive about teaching in schools with populations predominately of the opposite race. The data further revealed that there were no statistically significant differences in the choice of descriptive words used by black and white respondents to identify individuals of the opposite racial groups that they would be most willing to associate with. Further analysis of the data suggests that blacks as a group were more apprehensive about their relationships in the school setting with members of the opposite racial group. / Ed. D.

How do people allocate responsibility for inter-racial conflict (Black vs. White) under ambiguous circumstances? We tested the hypothesis that responsibility allocation reflects people’s implicit racial bias—with greater blame allocated to the Black protagonist by observers with stronger implicit anti-Black bias—but only when they identify the conflict in low-level terms (i.e., the specific momentary actions of the individuals). When observers identify the conflict in high-level terms (e.g., the intentions of the individuals), they are conscious of their biases and can suppress them in favor of less prejudicial judgments. White and Black participants read or listened to an ambiguous inter-racial conflict narrative, then allocated responsibility for the conflict and rated the protagonists’ personalities. The results showed the defendants were rated as more responsible when rated more positively for personality and affective reaction. Methodological reasons for the direction of the relationship are discussed, as are suggestions for future research. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Previous research shows that social biases, such as pro-White racial bias, can influence a person's decisions and behaviors (Correll et al. 2007; Mekawi & Bresin, 2015). Studies also suggest that social biases may influence basic functions like visual perception (Cesario & Navarrete, 2014); however, few studies have examined the relationship between visual perceptions and threat (Cesario, Placks, Hagiwara, Navarrete, & Higgins, 2010; Todd, Thiem, & Neel, 2016). The current research aims to investigate whether implicit pro-White preference can influence basic functions like visual perception. A secondary aim of this study is to examine the role of threat in this relationship. To test, White male and female participants (N= 29) were asked to complete distance estimates to either a Black or White male experimenter. It was hypothesized that participants would judge the distance to the Black confederate as closer compared to those who estimate the distance to a White confederate. The results marginally supported the idea that participants’ distance judgements were influenced by the experimenter’s race, such that the Black experimenter was viewed as closer when compared to the White experimenter. However, results showed that implicit racial attitudes did not influence distance estimations, but explicit bias did. Fully powered follow-up studies will be conducted to further examine these hypotheses and investigate whether a type one error was present.

Exploring the relationship between prejudice and ethical decision-making within individuals that wish to pursue a career in the field of criminal justice has the potential to yield valuable insights on the ways that moral decisions may be impacted by extraneous factors. The objective of this thesis was to explore this relationship by means of quasi-experimental design and through examining 30 potential criminal justice candidates. Results suggested that significant associations between explicit racial attitudes and ethical decision-making are largely context-specific. Conversely, there was no significant relationship found between implicit racial attitudes and decision-making. In conducting this study, a better understanding of the role that explicit factors contribute within the decision-making process was revealed and a gap within the literature was identified. Also worthy of note, this study was the first known research inquiry into the relationship between both implicit and explicit attitudes and ethical decision-making within a Canadian criminological setting.

Exploring the relationship between prejudice and ethical decision-making within individuals that wish to pursue a career in the field of criminal justice has the potential to yield valuable insights on the ways that moral decisions may be impacted by extraneous factors. The objective of this thesis was to explore this relationship by means of quasi-experimental design and through examining 30 potential criminal justice candidates. Results suggested that significant associations between explicit racial attitudes and ethical decision-making are largely context-specific. Conversely, there was no significant relationship found between implicit racial attitudes and decision-making. In conducting this study, a better understanding of the role that explicit factors contribute within the decision-making process was revealed and a gap within the literature was identified. Also worthy of note, this study was the first known research inquiry into the relationship between both implicit and explicit attitudes and ethical decision-making within a Canadian criminological setting.

Exploring the relationship between prejudice and ethical decision-making within individuals that wish to pursue a career in the field of criminal justice has the potential to yield valuable insights on the ways that moral decisions may be impacted by extraneous factors. The objective of this thesis was to explore this relationship by means of quasi-experimental design and through examining 30 potential criminal justice candidates. Results suggested that significant associations between explicit racial attitudes and ethical decision-making are largely context-specific. Conversely, there was no significant relationship found between implicit racial attitudes and decision-making. In conducting this study, a better understanding of the role that explicit factors contribute within the decision-making process was revealed and a gap within the literature was identified. Also worthy of note, this study was the first known research inquiry into the relationship between both implicit and explicit attitudes and ethical decision-making within a Canadian criminological setting.

Exploring the relationship between prejudice and ethical decision-making within individuals that wish to pursue a career in the field of criminal justice has the potential to yield valuable insights on the ways that moral decisions may be impacted by extraneous factors. The objective of this thesis was to explore this relationship by means of quasi-experimental design and through examining 30 potential criminal justice candidates. Results suggested that significant associations between explicit racial attitudes and ethical decision-making are largely context-specific. Conversely, there was no significant relationship found between implicit racial attitudes and decision-making. In conducting this study, a better understanding of the role that explicit factors contribute within the decision-making process was revealed and a gap within the literature was identified. Also worthy of note, this study was the first known research inquiry into the relationship between both implicit and explicit attitudes and ethical decision-making within a Canadian criminological setting.

abstract: This study examined relations between White parents’ color-blind and implicit racial attitudes and their children’s racial bias as well as moderation by diversity in children’s friends and caregivers, parental warmth, child age, and child sex. The sample included 190 White/Non-Hispanic children (46% female) between the ages of 5 and 9 years (M = 7.11 years, SD = .94) and their mothers (N = 184) and fathers (N = 154). Data used were parents’ reports of color-blind racial attitudes (Color-blind Racial Attitudes Scale; CoBRAS), parental warmth, and racial/ethnic diversity of children’s friendships and caregivers, direct assessment of primary parent implicit racial attitudes (Implicit Association Test; IAT), and direct assessment of children’s racial attitudes. Results supported hypothesized relations between parent racial attitudes and some child racial bias variables, especially under certain conditions. Specifically, both mothers’ and fathers’ color-blind racial attitudes were positively related to children’s social inclusion preference for White children over Black children and parents’ implicit White preference positively predicted child social inclusion racial bias, but only for younger children. Fathers’ color-blind racial attitudes positively predicted children’s social inclusion racial bias only when children’s pre-K caregivers were mostly White and were inversely related to children’s implicit White preference when children’s caregivers were more racially heterogeneous. Finally, parental warmth moderated relations such that, when mothers’ warmth was low, mother color-blind attitudes were negatively related to children’s racial bias in social distance preference and fathers’ color-blind attitudes positively predicted children’s social inclusion bias only when father warmth was low or average. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Family and Human Development 2020

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