Early release from prison in time of COVID-19: Determinants of unfavourable decisions towards Black prisoners.

ABSTRACT: On the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the overcrowding in prisons led to efforts to decarcerate in order to prevent and control outbreaks in prisons. This study analyses how public support for such exceptional measures are determined by cognitive and ideological factors known to create and maintain racial biases in the criminal system. Participants were asked to express their level of agreement with the early-release of hypothetical prisoners. Results showed participants to be less favourable to the early-release of Black compared to White prisoners, when they had committed a stereotypically Black crime. As expected, the congruency between the crime stereotypicality and the colour of the prisoner's skin did not emerge for White prisoners. Moreover, the difference between the agreement wit

SUBMITTER: Miranda MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8158868 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature