Jury nullification and racism: The effect of nullification instructions and racial prejudice on jurors\u27 verdicts.

The present study sought to examine the effect of four Instructions conditions (No Instructions, Radical Nullification Instructions, Maryland Instructions, and Canadian (Standard) Instructions) on jurors\u27 verdicts in a first-degree murder case involving euthanasia. In the vignette, the race of the defendant and the race of the victim were manipulated to be either Black or White. Participants were all potential jurors who ranged in age from 19 to 55 years old and they were all White, Canadian citizens. Each subject was randomly assigned to one of 16 categories in this 4 x 2 x 2 design. Participants were then asked to assign both a guilt rating and a recommended sentence length for the defendant. Subjects were also asked to rate the importance of eleven influences on their verdicts and a space was provided for participants to add their own influence. In addition, participants were given four questions, each followed by six different response choices. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1997 .K38. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 37-01, page: 0384. Adviser: Ron Frisch. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1997