After a Guilty Verdict - Alternatives to Imprisonment - Eberhardt

Eberhardt:

Aim: Investigate whether there is supoort for the hypothesis that black offenders with stereotypically black features were more likely to receive a death sentence than a white offender.

M&P: An analysis of a database; 600 death-eligible cases; 44 cases black man killed a white victim; photographs of real offenders used; shown to naive victims; rated them 1 to 11 (extremely stereotypical); student raters; didn't know they were real criminals

Results: Offenders with a stereotypially black appearance more likely to get a death sentence than those with a less stereotypical black appearance.

Second part of study saw a black victim and white offender - no significant effect of looking sterotypically black was found = black victims are less important

Conclusion: This study suggests sterotypically black people are seen as looking 'Death-Worthy'.