Stereotype threat in court mirrors healthcare nonadherence effects across all legal roles

Evidence

In our workshops, we invite participants to substitute their own role with that of the healthcare provider. Each stakeholder group has identified corollaries between the health research and the CJS. Criminal defense attorneys have described how their clients may respond similarly to the Black or Latino patients who, when they see themselves as seen through the lens of stereotypes by their doctors, tended to discount feedback and not adhere to treatment recommendations. This phenomenon would risk undermining the attorney-client relationship and potentially affect how the client appeared at trial or their fidelity in keeping up with diversion programs for example. Prosecutors recognized that if victims, witnesses, and families of victims experienced stereotype threat in their interactions with prosecutors, the success of the prosecution and the legitimacy of the system are at risk. Finally, judges have discussed how both adults and juveniles in the court system may have reason to fear that they are being viewed as confirming negative stereotypes, with the attendant effect on their response to judges’ admonitions and attempts to encourage positive behavior. — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 1376

Categorization

• XREF: Transfers the stereotype threat mechanism known from Steele & Aronson’s health and academic research into the criminal justice system — the same mechanism the neighboring chapters document.
• SEED: Article angle: how a mechanism proven in one domain (doctor-patient adherence) transfers wholesale into another (attorney-client), showing the generality of stereotype threat.