Projects / Programmes
Psychological mechanisms in criminal justice: Deconstructing objectivity
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.07.00 |
Social sciences |
Criminology and social work |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S160 |
Social sciences |
Criminology |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.05 |
Social Sciences |
Law |
decision-making, psychology, law, legal professionals, bias, prejudice, cognitive bias, discourse, language, emotions
Researchers (19)
Organisations (2)
Abstract
Legal professionals undergo various education and trainings aimed at making their decisions coherent, objective, neutral and just. However, legal education focuses on legal questions, disregarding the fact that legal professionals layer all that knowledge on a psychological framework that determines them as humans.
The research project will address a number of psychological mechanisms influencing judicial and legal decision-making in criminal law and propose strategies to neutralise their undesirable effects.
The overarching objective of the research project is to explore the ways in which different psychological mechanisms perform in criminal justice, more specifically (1) how they impact decisions in criminal justice, and (2) how to find ways of preventing negative impact of such mechanisms in the field that prides itself with a veil of objectivity and neutrality. With this principal objective in mind, we have identified some mechanisms that may have the most important or prevalent implications for criminal justice and set specific objectives for each of them as follows.
1) We will strive to understand whether and how prejudice on gender, social status, ethnicity, and attractiveness of defendants and other participants in criminal procedures impacts legal decision-making. We will approach this question by employing two types of research methods: (a) experiment with hypotheticals and (b) systematic analysis of the case-law.
2) We will discover whether cognitive biases affect legal decision-making in criminal procedures and to explore which of the tested cognitive biases (e.g. anchoring, status quo bias, hindsight bias) judges and other legal decision-makers are most prone to.
3) We will study whether and how the use of language (e.g. vocabulary, syntax, sentence structure, use of grammar, etc.) and the utilisation of particular discourse (e.g. use of emotional versus neutral language) paint the reality of legal decision-making. We will explore the use of language and discourse through analysis of verbatim transcriptions of the relevant parts of the adjudicated trials with specialised computer programmes.
4) We will identify the specificities of group decision-making in the criminal-law context, and then explore the impact of group decision-making on judicial decisions. Furthermore, we aim to explore the differences between lay and professional group decision-making in the judicial context (i.e. how decision-making in juries differs from panels of judges). A final goal in this set is to understand how group decision-making can enhance or neutralise the impact of hidden bias in legal decisions made by individuals.
5) We will explore how attitudes and emotions (e.g. attraction or antipathy) of judges and other legal professionals towards other participants in legal procedures affect judicial decision-making. Moreover, we want to understand how decision-makers acknowledge any such impact and reflect on it.
6) An important overarching goal of this research is to seek proposed or possible solutions to less than perfect decision-making in the legal context (e.g. automated-decision making tools, guidelines, choice architecture in the legal context etc.). Furthermore, we want to assess their applicability with regard to the outcomes of the present research.
The problems addressed by our research are substantially under-researched, particularly in the criminal justice context, among professional decision-makers, and in continental criminal law systems. However, these issues are of paramount importance for the rule of law as they pertain to the fundamental legal principles of equality before the law and impartiality of courts. The results offered by our project will therefore not only be relevant to the Slovenian national legal system and academia but will offer original insights for the international academic and legal communities as well.
Significance for science
In contrast to centuries-long theoretical legal tradition dealing with formal, logical and doctrinal parameters of decision-making, a negligible body of research has so far dealt with non-legal aspects of decision-making, despite growing evidence about the crucial impact of the latter. The presented project targets comprehensively and systematically the most salient psychological mechanisms likely influencing decision-making in the criminal-law context.
The relevance of the expected results is therefore obvious not only in this field but extends well beyond the scope of criminal law and is equally important for all other fields of legal and administrative decision-making. We expect the findings of this research to improve legal decision-making and consequently strengthen fundamental legal principles, such as equality before the law and impartiality of courts.
However, the results will not only be relevant to the national legal system but will offer original and advanced insights for the international academic community as well. Empirical research in legal decision-making is rare and much rarer when looking at research performed on actual legal professionals. Findings from the Slovenian context may easily be generalised towards systems with similar characteristics and will be interesting to scholars studying judicial and other professionals behaviour elsewhere as well. Moreover, findings may easily be tested in different systems, as the methodology will be transparent and easy to replicate.
When dealing with national legal systems it may often be difficult to offer internationally relevant findings, however, this research offers precisely that. Human behaviour, albeit professional behaviour such as legal decision-making, is rather universal and thus bears strong similarities across systems, regardless of nationally specific rules or circumstances.
Moreover, the findings will not only be relevant for the criminological and criminal justice fields of study, but rather to a much broader academic audience: it heavily relies or at least touches upon a number of social science fields: psychology, cognitive science, linguistics, legal philosophy, legal theory, sociology etc.
During the implementation of the project, knowledge gained through the research will immediately be transferred to the educational process at undergraduate and graduate levels at national and international universities, where the project members teach.
Significance for the country
In contrast to centuries-long theoretical legal tradition dealing with formal, logical and doctrinal parameters of decision-making, a negligible body of research has so far dealt with non-legal aspects of decision-making, despite growing evidence about the crucial impact of the latter. The presented project targets comprehensively and systematically the most salient psychological mechanisms likely influencing decision-making in the criminal-law context.
The relevance of the expected results is therefore obvious not only in this field but extends well beyond the scope of criminal law and is equally important for all other fields of legal and administrative decision-making. We expect the findings of this research to improve legal decision-making and consequently strengthen fundamental legal principles, such as equality before the law and impartiality of courts.
However, the results will not only be relevant to the national legal system but will offer original and advanced insights for the international academic community as well. Empirical research in legal decision-making is rare and much rarer when looking at research performed on actual legal professionals. Findings from the Slovenian context may easily be generalised towards systems with similar characteristics and will be interesting to scholars studying judicial and other professionals behaviour elsewhere as well. Moreover, findings may easily be tested in different systems, as the methodology will be transparent and easy to replicate.
When dealing with national legal systems it may often be difficult to offer internationally relevant findings, however, this research offers precisely that. Human behaviour, albeit professional behaviour such as legal decision-making, is rather universal and thus bears strong similarities across systems, regardless of nationally specific rules or circumstances.
Moreover, the findings will not only be relevant for the criminological and criminal justice fields of study, but rather to a much broader academic audience: it heavily relies or at least touches upon a number of social science fields: psychology, cognitive science, linguistics, legal philosophy, legal theory, sociology etc.
During the implementation of the project, knowledge gained through the research will immediately be transferred to the educational process at undergraduate and graduate levels at national and international universities, where the project members teach.
Most important scientific results
Interim report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
