This study aims to investigate the impact of juror and defendant race on social identity in the Canadian courtroom. Social identity refers to the identification and categorization of individuals based on their racial or ethnic background, which can influence perceptions, attitudes, and decision-making processes within legal settings. Using a mixed-methods approach, including qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys, this research explores the dynamics of social identity formation among jurors and its potential implications for the fairness and impartiality of the Canadian judicial system. The findings shed light on the complex interplay between juror and defendant race, highlighting the need for a comprehensive understanding of social identity dynamics to promote equality and justice within the Canadian legal system.

Social identity, juror race, defendant race

Allport, Gordon W. 1954. The Nature of Prejudice. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Google Scholar

Bagby, R. Michael, James D. Parker, Neil A. Rector, and Valery Kalemba. 1994. Racial prejudice in the Canadian legal system. Law and Human Behavior 18(3): 339–50. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01499592 Google Scholar

Bill C-75 2018 An Act to Amend the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and Other Acts and to Make Consequential Amendments to Other Acts. http://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/bill/C-75/first-reading Google Scholar

Bodenhausen, Galen V. 1988. Stereotypic biases in social decision making and memory: Testing process models of stereotype use. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 55(5): 726–37. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.55.5.726. Medline:3210142 Google Scholar

Bodenhausen, Galen V., and Destiny Peery. 2009. Social categorization and stereotyping in vivo: The VUCA challenge. Social and Personality Psychology Compass 3(2): 133–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2009.00167.x Google Scholar

Bucolo, Donald O., and Ellen S. Cohn. 2010. Playing the race card: Making race-salient in defence opening and closing statements. Legal and Criminological Psychology 15(2): 293–303. https://doi.org/10.1348/135532508x400824 Google Scholar

Chao, Melody M., Ying-yi Hong, and Chi-yue Chiu. 2013. Essentializing race: Its implications on racial categorization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 104(4): 619–34. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031332 Google Scholar

Clow, Kimberley A., James M. Lant, and Brian L. Cutler. 2013. Perceptions of defendant culpability in pretrial publicity: The effects of defendant ethnicity and participant gender. Race and Social Problems 5(4): 250–61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-013-9102-1 Google Scholar

Cohn, Ellen S., Donald O. Bucolo, Misha Pride, and Samuel R. Sommers. 2009. Reducing white juror bias: The role of race salience and racial attitudes. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 39(8): 1953–73. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00511.x Google Scholar

Devine, Dennis J., and David E. Caughlin. 2014. Do they matter? A meta-analytic investigation of individual characteristics and guilt judgments. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law 20(2): 109–34. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000006 Google Scholar

Devine, Patricia G., and Andrew J. Elliot. 1995. Are racial stereotypes really fading? The Princeton trilogy revisited. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21(11): 1139–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672952111002 Google Scholar