Prototypes of Hate and Expectations of the Model Victim.

This research explored the content of hate crime prototypes in a North American context, with particular attention to how such prototypes might influence blame attributions. In Study 1a, participants were recruited from a blended sample of universities (n = 110) and community members (n = 102) and asked to report their thoughts about typical hate crime offenses, victims, and offenders. These open-ended responses were coded, and common themes were identified. In Study 1b, a new group of participants (n = 290) were presented with these themes and asked to rate each for their characteristics of hate crimes. Studies 1a and 1b confirmed the presence of a clear prototype of hate crimes, such that (a) perpetrators were believed to be lower status White men with clear expressions of bias, (b) hate crime offenses were believed to be acts of interpersonal violence accompanied by slurs or verbal abuse, and (c) hate crime victims were thought to be members of a marginalized group who remain passive during the offense. Study 2 explored the consequences of victim prototypes on assessments of victim blame. Participants (n = 296) were recruited from York University and presented with a case vignette that varied the prototypicality of a victim of hate, depicting him as either Black or White and either passive, verbally responsive, or physically confrontational in the context of an assault. Participants showed greatest sympathy for the Black victim who passively ignored verbal harassment but increasingly assigned blame when the Black victim spoke or reacted physically. When the victim was White, participants showed little variation in their assessment of blame as a function of the victim's behavior. These results suggest that Black victims are subjected to greater behavioral scrutiny than White victims and that sympathy for victims of hate may be contingent on their passivity in the face of harassment.

Young Women's Experiences With Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence From Male Strangers.

Stranger-perpetrated harassment was identified decades ago to describe the pervasive, unwanted sexual attention women experience in public spaces. This form of harassment, which has evolved in the modern era, targets women as they navigate online spaces, social media, texting, and online gaming. The present research explored university-aged women's experiences (n = 381) with online male-perpetrated sexual harassment, including the nature and frequency of the harassment, how women responded to the harassment, and how men reportedly reacted to women's strategies. Trends in harassment experiences are explored descriptively and with thematic analysis. Most women reported receiving sexually inappropriate messages (84%, n = 318), sexist remarks or comments (74%, n = 281), seductive behavior or come-ons (70%, n = 265), or unwanted sexual attention (64%, n = 245) in an online platform, social media account, email, or text message. This sexual attention from unknown males often began at a very young age (12-14 years). The harassment took many forms, including inappropriate sexual comments on social media posts, explicit photos of male genitalia, and solicitations for sex. Although most women reported strong negative emotional reactions to the harassment (disgust, fear, anger), they generally adopted non-confrontational strategies to deal with the harassment, electing to ignore/delete the content or blocking the offender. Women reported that some men nevertheless persisted with the harassment, following them across multiple sites online, escalating in intensity and severity, and leading some women to delete their own social media accounts. These results suggest the need for early intervention and education programs and industry response.

Model Victims of Hate: Victim Blaming in the Context of Islamophobic Hate Crime.

Prior research has explored victim blaming in the context of hate, often depicting hate crime victims as relatively passive recipients of harassment and violence. In reality, victims often do engage with their perpetrators, and the present research explored the effect that victim behavior might have on observer reactions to Islamophobic hate crimes. Participants completed a measure of Islamophobia and read a scenario in which a White man verbally harassed a victim in the park before physically assaulting him. We manipulated both the victim's identity (White or South Asian Muslim) and the victim's response to the perpetrator's verbal harassment (the victim either ignored the offensive comments, verbally reacted to them, or became physically confrontational). When the victim was portrayed as passive and nonresponding, the South Asian Muslim victim attracted lower victim blame, higher perpetrator blame, and increased certainty that the offense was a hate crime. As the victim's behavior became more aggressive, victim blaming increased and perpetrator blaming decreased, but only for the South Asian Muslim victim. It appeared that observers scrutinized the behavior of the South Asian Muslim victim in a way they did not for the White victim, such that sympathy toward the Muslim hate crime victim was tied to his "good behavior." We propose that observers hold expectations of the model hate crime victim, one who is a racialized, religious, or sexual minority who accepts harassment passively and with good behavior; deviation from this script results in a loss of sympathy and an increase in victim blaming. Finally, those higher in Islamophobia displayed reduced perpetrator blame, guilt, and sentences but greater victim blame when the crime targeted a South Asian Muslim as opposed to White victim.

Jury decision-making: the impact of engagement and perceived threat on verdict decisions.

The present study examined the role of political orientation and task engagement in juror decision-making. The study was conducted as a 2 (mode: laboratory versus online) × 2 (role: juror, observer) × 3 (evidence: admissible, inadmissible, control) between-subjects experiment, with participants (N = 157) recruited from a mid-sized Australian university. Findings supported our predictions that political conservatism is associated with convictions, and that university students endorse a wide range of political orientations. Participants who were more engaged in the study perceived more threat in the defendant, and threat, in turn, led to higher conviction rates; furthermore, the effect of participation mode on verdict decisions was completely mediated by perceptions of the threat posed by the defendant. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for jury decision-making research and its relevance to actual juror decisions.

Perspectives from the ASD community on police interactions: Challenges & recommendations.

BACKGROUND: Research shows that a substantial proportion of people with Autism come into contact with the police in their lifetime, and some research suggests that they are largely unsatisfied with their police interactions. METHOD: Thirty-five adults with ASD completed an online questionnaire regarding the challenges police may face when interacting with Autistic people, as well as provided recommendations as to how those interactions could be improved. RESULTS: Respondents reported a variety of different potential challenges that could present in an interaction between the police and people with ASD. For example, respondents felt that typical Autistic behaviours, such as stimming or communication difficulties, could be misinterpreted by police officers and lead to adverse outcomes. Respondents discussed several recommendations aimed at improving police interactions with Autistic people, including involving Autisitc people in the training of police officers. CONCLUSIONS: The information collected in this study provides insights into how interactions between the police and people with ASD can be improved. These findings can be used in the development of police training programs or integrated into pre-existing training programs on Autism, contributing the invaluable perspective of the Autism community.

A mixed-methods study of police experiences of adults with autism spectrum disorder in Canada.

The current study examined the experiences and perceptions of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in relation to their interactions with the police. Thirty-five adults with ASD living in Canada completed a detailed survey that probed their experiences with police in depth. Amongst respondents, police contact was common and frequent, occurring under a diverse range of circumstances. More than three-quarters of respondents reported at least one lifetime police interaction, with 53% of respondents reporting four or more. The majority of respondents viewed their police interactions unfavourably, and many reported experiencing adverse effects. Results suggest that this negativity toward their police encounters may be largely due to the fact that police are unaware they are interacting with someone with ASD, and perhaps also a lack of resources available to police officers for people with ASD. Findings provide insights into the nature of police encounters amongst individuals with ASD, emphasizing how interactions between people with ASD and the police may be improved in the future.

Understanding Support Providers' Views of "Helpful" Responses to Sexual Assault Disclosures: The Impacts of Self-Blame and Physical Resistance.

Prior research on the factors associated with various disclosure responses has often been conducted on sexual assault victims and formal support providers, while informal helpers, who are the most common recipients of disclosures, have received far less attention. This experimental study examined potential informal helpers' views of disclosure reactions and their influence on the self-reported likelihoods of engaging in those responses. Undergraduate students at a large Canadian university ( N = 239) received vignettes describing a hypothetical sexual assault disclosure that varied on victim's self-blame and physical resistance, and then rated common disclosure reactions. The results revealed that participants' perceptions of various responses were at odds with victims' experiences, with many negative responses, such as victim blame and egocentrism, viewed as equally or more helpful than positive responses, such as emotional support. Moreover, when the victim blamed herself and did not physically resist, positive responses were seen as less helpful whereas negative responses were seen as more helpful, with some notable gender differences. Regression analyses indicated that the perceived helpfulness of each response was the strongest predictor of the likelihood of providing that response. Practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Mock juror sensitivity to forensic evidence in drug facilitated sexual assaults.

Mock jurors' reactions to variations in the quality of toxicological evidence regarding the presence of drugs in a sexual assault trial were examined. In Study 1, participants received a trial summary in which a negative test result, a negative test result plus expert testimony, or no test result was presented. The time taken by the complainant to report the alleged sexual assault was manipulated. The negative test result influenced participants' judgments, but this effect was minimized by the presence of expert testimony. The complainant's delay in reporting had little impact on judgments. In Study 2, complainant time to report was again manipulated along with the outcome of the test result (negative finding and no result). Results revealed that men were less conviction prone when the negative test result was obtained early as opposed to late. In contrast, when the test result was unavailable, men were more conviction prone when the complainant reported late as oppose to early.

The impact of prejudice screening procedures on racial bias in the courtroom.

The current study examines the impact of the challenge for cause procedure and its effectiveness in curbing racial prejudice in trials involving Black defendants. Participants were provided with a trial summary of a defendant charged with either drug trafficking or embezzlement. The race of the defendant was either White or Black, with participants in the Black defendant condition receiving (prior to the trial presentation) either no challenge, a close-ended standard challenge, or a modified reflective pretrial questioning strategy. Overall, the results revealed an anti-Black bias in judgments. While the closed ended challenge did little to reduce this bias, the reflective format demonstrated a reduction in racial bias. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.

The impact of negative forensic evidence on mock jurors' perceptions of a trial of drug-facilitated sexual assault.

Legal concerns with regard to the adverse impact of a negative toxicological screening for date-rape drugs in a case of drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) were the focus of a recent Canadian case (R. v. Alouache, 2003). To assess the impact of a negative forensic report, as well as the impact of expert testimony explaining the many factors that may contribute to a negative outcome, participants (N=171) received a written trial stimulus in which the forensic evidence (negative report, negative report plus expert testimony, no negative report and no expert testimony control) and the complainant's beverage consumption (alcohol, cola) were systematically varied. Results indicate that a negative finding in the absence of expert testimony produced greater verdict leniency and more favourable evaluations of the defendant's case. In contrast, no differences were found between the case in which the expert testified and a case in which the negative report and expert testimony were omitted.

Expert testimony pertaining to battered woman syndrome: its impact on jurors' decisions.

Participants (N = 200) were presented with a criminal homicide trial involving a battered woman who had killed her abuser. Within the trial, both the response history (passive, active) and presence of expert testimony pertaining to battered woman syndrome (present, absent) were systematically varied. As well, half of the participants in each of these conditions were provided with a nullification instruction informing them that they were free to disregard the law and acquit should a strict application of the law result in an unjust verdict. Results indicated that, compared to the passive response condition, the mock jurors were no less receptive to the expert testimony in the active response condition. The impact of the testimony on participants' verdicts, however, was moderated by the nullification instruction. That is, although the presence of the testimony did result in greater verdict leniency, this only occurred when the mock jurors had been released from a strict application of the law. The implications of these findings are discussed.