Sociology 2234E Lecture Notes - Eyewitness Identification, Socioeconomic Status, Leading Question
28 Mar 2012
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Document Summary
Unit 16: social psychology of justice and law. The canadian justice system consists of: civil law, whereby one party brings a complaint against another for violating the former s rights in some way, criminal law, whereby someone commits a crime and the police arrest a suspect. The crown attorney"s office decides whether there is enough evidence to press formal charges. Factors involving the scene: place, time (day vs. night, lighting, presence of others. Factors involving the (alleged) perpetrator: socioeconomic status, appearance, race / ethnicity, character / personality. Factors involving the witnesses: acquisition of information, storage of information. The accuracy of eye-witness identification depends on the viewing conditions at the time the vcrime way committed. Research shows that most jurors believe witnesses can correctly identify the criminal, even when viewing conditions are poor (see figure spa3. 1: eyewitness testimonies are responsible for more wrongful conviction than all other causes combined.
