How does the perception of criminality influence lineup decisions?

Abstract

Framed within the context of an exploration of participants' attitudes to, and perceptions of, people of Arabic appearance, this research explores the relation between perceptions of criminality and identification accuracy, building on work by Malpass and Mcquiston (2002) and Maclin (2010). Taking three separate areas of previous study: Stereotypes; Stigma; and Lineup Procedure, this study has merged aspects of each in order to generate a foundation from which this research can build upon. Participants (N=75) took part in this three stage study: a ratings task, where participants were asked to rate faces on one of four possible factors: Attractiveness, Intelligence, Typicality, and Criminality; a lineup task; and a questionnaire exploring the perceptions of Arabic people and culture held by the participants. Each of the participants was randomly assigned to one of six possible conditions (where a person from the ratings task was either present or not). The findings revealed that participants rated White people as slightly more criminal than Arabic people, and were able to make a correct lineup decision concerning White people twice as much as Arabic people. The questionnaire expressed that the participants did not think that Arabic people and their culture were threatening or imposing on the people of the UK, and overall interpreted both in a positive manner.